Ski Design - Is Wood Better?

The problem with terminology results from a few things:
-most people here have never worked with high density aerospace foams
-marketing folks would prefer you don't call those foams foam.
-the lay person's idea of foam is absent from modern, quality skis for adults. Strato claimed to own foam injected K2's...still no mention of when. Certainly in my lifetime K2 has made some skis that weren't that durable....none of my TNC skis were durable, but they were huge fun, and they contained the traditional ingredients of ski construction...

The only part of Richie's taxonomy that rings true is that nearly all modern skis are composites.

This was such a brilliant post from another thread, thought I'd share:

Regardless of our individual preferences, the trend is clear.

If you compare ski shop racks 4 years ago, vs. today, the difference isn't subtle. Foam (composite) has faded while wood has stormed back.

Salomon, Rossignol, and even Atomic, are reverting back to wood. Blizzard, Volkl, Nordica and K2 dominate with wood.

Somewhere along the line, foam lost its appeal.

Maybe it had something to do with those pesky Pocket Rockets.

What is popular is suddenly what is good? What a vapid post.

I had (and enjoyed) Pocket Rockets when they were new and popular. I had (and enjoyed) snappy Blizzards made with wood and metal in the same timeframe, and at that time they were practically unseen in the United States. That you mention Blizzard now has nothing to do with product and everything to do with marketing.

Garrett: You're 24.

Find a girl.

They're nice.

Completely unnecessary and rude.

Read the thread.

Cuts both ways.

You'll get over it. I'm slightly amused at the reaction to my cynicism. Also, what makes you so sure I'm not gay? Your hyperbole really turns me on. How old are you? Maybe we can get together.

Still genuinely wondering what foam K2s you had. Don't remember too many in my lifetime, but I've always been a fan of their TNC and metal laminate skis.

What happened Captain? Did you resign your commission?

Are you sure you want to proposition people for gay sex on this site?

"Captain Strato" arose from a company party years ago.

After awhile, the "Captain" part sounded pretentious, so I dropped it.

Hence, I'm demoted.

Just an enlisted man now.

WTF are you talking about?

I was referring to your screen name changing. This is the first time I've seen it.

If that was supposed to be a joke, you missed funny by a mile.

Volantaddict: Sorry for the confusion.

You got caught in the middle of some juvenile sniping.

Yeah I caught that afterward, I tried to change my post, but the edit function isn't working for me at the moment.

Do you think Republican U.S. Senators actually READ this stuff?!

Back to the original questions:

What's your view? Do you notice a difference in feel between wood and composites? Yes, there is a difference in feel. Can everyone feel the difference: probably not, as the differences are pretty subtle. Remember, a ski is the sum of the parts (type of construction, materials used, physical dimensions and characteristics, etc.). Changing any one aspect will affect the feel of the ski.

Do you like the swing back to wood? Makes no difference to me what is inside the ski. If the ski skis well, I'd buy it. What's inside is largely irrelevant.

Does it matter? Not really. All manufacturers want you to believe they are on the cutting edge of emerging technology (which justifies the higher prices). Remember when Rossi introduced the Kevlar 4S? That started a string of skis that used a composite material.

Bottom line: It's not the horse, it's the jockey.

Naw. Just people interesting in skiing.

WOULD

Kingswood skis use bamboo as their core.

Wins thread.

I agree. Trends come and go, but there are a few truths which will always be self-evident:

1) Wood is where it's at.
2) Long skis truck, short skis suck.
3) Hardpack is boring.

Actually, I think hardpack may be boring to me because I'm going too fast. Seriously - I don't turn on hardpack unless I absolutely have to. It's over faster that way.

And I actually used to race SL in college. I had 203's.

Nice "fixed it for ya" tho. Especially for the King Of The Gapers.

from memory the 610 and 710 series skis to the public, the EIS the KVC maybe the TNC...we quit carrying them around taht time when 80+% of the skis foam and wood came back on warranty...

Just curious, who can tell us what kind of a tree makes sensorwood?

jim

I'd heard it used to be that bad. I was getting into this a couple years before they started offshoring production (er, farther offshore I suppose) and the warranty rates pretty much dropped overnight when that happened. Some of those era consumer skis had foam appurtenances but were mostly wood cored.
good question. I've always suspected the brand covers multiple species depending on application. I always find it refreshing when a sales brochure says "fir/aspen with fiberglass torsion box" instead of "Energy Ti Sensor powertuned Fourier Transform with Piston Ocean Control."

The absurdity of this makes it signature line worthy quote.

Why, a sensor tree, of course.

This has been another in a series of simple answers to simple questions.

All talk of wood reminds of this. Amazing work, yet totally impractical from a production point. http://www.joeharmondesign.com/
BTW, I am not a fan of foam core skis, I test dozens of pairs every year and the ones I like are almost always wood (they also tend to be laminate skis and not cap...go figure).

I think any material used in ski design has it's pros and cons. I grew up skiing on wood core skis and tend to favor them. They feel damper to me. I do like the Atomic Beta tech. I am looking forward to testing some solid Ashwood (non-laminated) skis when the season starts. It's hard to beat wood grain for looks.

Benni Reich won the world cup on some pretty special Atomics. He harvests his own wood from very dense, thin ringed old trees from the family farm in Austria. Atomic builds his skis around that core.

"Or Benni Raich, he is bringing some special wood because the inside construction is made from wood mainly, so he is bringing some special wood from his forest. So we are able to make everything very individual. His father, from his own forest. A special tree. They cut them down and they are a hundred percent sure that there is more flex than bended wood,"

http://www.skiracing.com/index.php?o...87&Ite mid=47