 A shaped, twin-tip alpine ski. A ski is a long flat device worn on the feet designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now primarily used for recreational and sporting purposes. Also, a ski may denote a similar device used for other purposes than skiing, e.g., for steering snowmobiles. Skate skiing picture taken by me on my digital camera. ...
Skate skiing picture taken by me on my digital camera. ...
A snowmobile tour at Yellowstone National Park, note the snowdust in the air (NPS Photo) A 1997 Arctic Cat ZR 580 Snowmobile A snowmobile (or snow scooter, often referred to by enthusiasts as a sled and in the Canadian north and Alaska as a snowmachine, or as the genericized trademark...
Snow skis glide on snow because downward pressure, as well as heat from surface friction, melts the snow directly under the ski. This creates a very thin layer of water directly under the ski upon which the ski glides. Ski wax is used to decrease drag by increasing the water repellent properties of the base. Ski wax is a material applied to the bottom of skis or snowboards to help them perform on snow. ...
History
The original Nordic ski technology was improved during the early twentieth century so that skiers could make turns at higher speeds. New ski and binding designs, coupled with the introduction of ski lifts to carry skiers high up on mountains, enabled the development of today’s most prominent category of the sport, alpine skiing.
Construction Skis were originally wooden planks made from a single piece of wood. They are now usually made from a complex assembly of components including glass fiber, Kevlar, Titanium, other polymers or composite materials, though many may still contain wooden cores. The composite Rutan VariEze, a home-build light aircraft Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), is a composite material or fiber-reinforced plastic made of a plastic reinforced by fine fibers made of glass. ...
Chemical structure of Kevlar. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number titanium, Ti, 22 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 4, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Atomic mass 47. ...
Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties and which remain separate and distinct within the finished structure. ...
Most skis are long and thin, pointed and curved upwards at the front to prevent the ski from digging into the snow. The user is attached by bindings which in turn hold the ski boots. Beginning in the early 2000's, many ski manufacturers began designing their skis and bindings together, creating an 'integrated binding system.' These systems serve two purposes. First, they often use a railroad track style design, to allow the toe and heel pieces to slide, which in turn allows the ski to flex deeply, without a flat spot underfoot, caused by the presence of a binding. Second, it forces the consumer to purchase both skis and bindings from the same manufacturer, increasing sales. In skiing, a ski binding is an attachment which anchors the ski boot to the ski. ...
Ski boots are specialized footwear that are used in skiing to provide protection and warmth for the foot in snowy and icy conditions, along with a way to attach the skier to skis using ski bindings so that skiers ski over snow. ...
Types of ski Many types of skis exist, all designed for different situations, of which the following are a selection.
Downhill ski Up until not too long ago, downhill skis were of very simple construction. They began as planks of wood. Later on metal edges were added to better grip the snow and ice of a ski trail. Through the 1970s and 1980s, with many composite synthetic materials becoming available, skis got stronger, lighter, and more supple (which enabled better turning). In the mid-1990s, manufacturers began producing "shaped" skis (when viewed from above or below, the center or "waist" is narrower than the tip or tail) for use by the mass market and by slalom competitors. Shaped skis are less efficient at straight travel (because they compress a wider track in the snow, compared to similar-length straight skis), but they are easier to turn. Direct downhill racers still use straight skis for speed. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...
1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...
1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The ski is turned by applying a mixture of pressure, rotation and edge angle. By setting the ski at an angle so that the edge cuts into the snow, the ski will follow the arc and hence turn the skier, a practice known as carving a turn. Straight skis can be used to carve turns, using the flexibility of the ski to produce an arc, but it is easier with shaped skis. Influenced by snowboarding, during the 1990s this shaping of the ski became significantly more pronounced to make it both easier for skiers to carve turns, and to dramatically increase the turning sensation experienced. Such skis were once termed carving skis, or shaped skis or parabolic skis to differentiate them from the more traditional straighter skis, but nearly all modern recreational skis are produced with the curve. Snowboarder in a half-pipe Snowboarder trail entry Snowboarding is a boardsport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard that is attached to ones feet. ...
For the band, see 1990s (band). ...
- See also:
The ski binding anchors the foot firmly to the ski at heel and toe. As a safety feature, it is spring-loaded, detaching the ski from the foot in case excessive force is applied. Modern bindings utilize a DIN spring system to minimize the amount of force applied to joints such as the knee during backward twisting falls. Deep powder skiing Alpine skier carving a turn on piste Members of the U.S. Air Force skiing (and snowboarding) at Keystone Resorts 14th Annual SnoFest This article is about snow skiing. ...
Twin-tip ski Twin-tip skis are skis with turned-up ends at both the front and rear. They make it easier to ski with one's back facing downhill, allowing reversed take-offs and landings when performing aerial maneuvers. The turned-up tail allows less application of aft pressure on the ski, causing it to release from a turn earlier than a non-twin-tip ski. Twin-tip skis are generally wider at the tip, tail, and underfoot and constructed of softer materials to cushion landings. Bindings are typically mounted closer to the center of the ski to facilitate the balance of fore and aft pressure, while skiing backwards or "switch", bindings are built lower to the ski for easy rail sliding. Some skis are also manufactured with special materials or a different sidecut design under and close to the foot to facilitate rail sliding (also referred to as "Jibbing"). The popularity explosion of twin-tip skis created a push for the inclusion of more terrain park elements at ski areas across the globe. In the past five years twin tips have become popular among youth skiers, ages 14-21. Once considered a passing fad, twin-tip skis have become a staple ski in the product line of all major ski-producing companies worldwide, with a few specializing in only twin tips. Line Skis, started by Jason Levinthal, is the first company to market only twin-tip skis. The first twin-tip ski was the Olin Mark IV Comp introduced in 1974. The first company to successfully market a twin-tip ski was Salomon, with their 1080 ski. A modified version of their alpine counterpart, twin-tip skis are designed to enable a skier to take off and land backward while jumping, or to simply ski backwards down a slope. ...
 Medieval Russian soldiers used skis to facilitate their movement during winter campaigns. Image File history File links Pokhodmoskovityan. ...
Image File history File links Pokhodmoskovityan. ...
Alpine touring ski Alpine touring ski. This type of ski is usually a modified light-weight downhill ski with an alpine touring binding. Like the backcountry ski it is designed for unbroken snow. For climbing of steep slopes, skins (originally made from the fur of seals, but now made of synthetic materials) can be attached at the base of the ski and the binding opened at the heel. For skiing downhill the bindings are locked. The ski is used with alpine touring boots which are hard but lighter than downhill skiing boots. Skinning up the mountain Ski touring, also referred to as ski mountaineering, ski randonnée, and alpine touring (or AT), is a form of backcountry skiing (off-piste skiing) involving trekking from place to place in the wilderness, that has parallels with hiking, backpacking and Alpine climbing or mountaineering. ...
In skiing, a ski binding is an attachment which anchors the ski boot to the ski. ...
Monoski The monoski is a single, double-width ski that attaches by a common DIN binding interface to modern front entry boots. More common in use during a brief boom in the 80s, today the monoski is used by only a few thousand enthusiasts world-wide. The monoski is produced by only half a dozen companies world-wide in limited quantities. Due to its extra width and flotation in deep snow, enthusiasts claim it superior as a powder ski. The term monoski can refer to either of two unrelated pieces of ski equipment. ...
Telemark ski Telemark ski. A downhill or touring ski, where the binding attaches only at the toe. The Telemark ski was the first ski with an inwards-turned waist which made it much easier for skiers to turn. It was pioneered by Sondre Norheim of Telemark, Norway. The fact that the foot is only attached to the ski at the toes, means that specialized more flexible ski boots are used, and a specific turning technique involving pushing one foot forward and lifting the heel of the other foot is used. Telemark skiing is a term used for skiing using the Telemark turn which is a technique first popularized by Sondre Norheim. ...
Skinning up the mountain Ski touring, also referred to as ski mountaineering, ski randonnée, and alpine touring (or AT), is a form of backcountry skiing (off-piste skiing) involving trekking from place to place in the wilderness, that has parallels with hiking, backpacking and Alpine climbing or mountaineering. ...
Sondre Norheim (June 10, 1825 - March 9, 1897) was the pioneer of modern skiing. ...
Telemark is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. ...
Cross-country ski Cross-country skis are very light and narrow, and usually have quite straight edges, though some newer skis have slight sidecut. The boots attach to the bindings at the toes only. There are three binding systems currently used, Rottefella's NNN and Salomon's SNS profil and SNS pilot. The ski bases are waxed to reduce friction during forward motion, and kick wax can also be applied to get adhesion when going uphill. Some waxless models may have patterns on the bottom to increase the friction when the ski slides backward. There are two major techniques, classical (traditional striding) and freestyle or skating which was developed in the 1980s. Skating skis are shorter than classical skis and do not need grip wax. Skating is also the technique used in biathlons. Cross-country skiing (also known as XC skiing) is a winter sport popular in many countries with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe and Canada. ...
The sidecut is the inner curvature of a ski, snowboard, or skiboard. ...
The name Biathlon is commonly confused with duathlon, the term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. ...
Backcountry ski Skis for mountain/backcountry/cross-country free range skiing which are designed for skiing on unbroken snow, where an established track is lacking. These are characteristically quite wide, and with cable bindings to provide general sturdiness, and to better extract ones feet from deep snowbanks, in case it should be impossible to reach the bindings by hand. This is also the model used by military forces trained to fight in winter conditions, and the most closely related to the historical ski. The widest backcountry skis are often called 'Big Mountain' skis. Backcountry skiing near the Arlberg, Austria Backcountry skiing is skiing in a sparsely inhabited rural region over ungroomed and unmarked slopes (i. ...
In skiing, a ski binding is an attachment which anchors the ski boot to the ski. ...
Mogul ski These skis are specifically designed for moguls. They are typically softer, less wide and less waisted compared to a common carving ski. Moguls are bumps in a ski slope formed when skiers cut grooves in the snow as they execute turns. ...
Ski jumping ski Skis for ski jumping. Long and wide skis, with bindings attaching at the toe. Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down an inrun with a take-off ramp (the jump), attempting to go as far as possible. ...
See also Image File history File links Rollski-a. ...
Image File history File links Rollski-a. ...
Roller skiing is a warm weather equivalent to cross-country skiing, instead of skis one uses elongated roller blades with one wheel at either end. ...
Deep powder skiing Alpine skier carving a turn on piste Members of the U.S. Air Force skiing (and snowboarding) at Keystone Resorts 14th Annual SnoFest This article is about snow skiing. ...
Skiing, or traveling over snow on wooden runners, has a recorded history of almost five millennia. ...
Roller skiing is a warm weather equivalent to cross-country skiing, instead of skis one uses elongated roller blades with one wheel at either end. ...
The roller skate is a type of skate with wheels to be used on solid ground (as opposed to the ice skate which is to be used on ice. ...
Snowboarder in a half-pipe Snowboarder trail entry Snowboarding is a boardsport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard that is attached to ones feet. ...
Skiboarder performing a grab. ...
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