In search of the ultimate backcountry ski...
Our New Zealand course director Jase is true ski guru, and is pretty fussy about what he straps to his feet. The following blog tracks his journey to manufacturing his own ski design.
Since my days of rocking 2 metre skis, jump turning everywhere, I progressed to a short slalom ski (160-170cm), ripping GS turns in the off-piste with a
serious need for speed. At no point during that time did I feel the need to jump on a set of fat skis, but when curiosity finally got the better of me I order myself a set of Nordica Beasts. 90mm underfoot and $2500 worth of kit made me excited for my first day skiing them, but it wasn’t to be and at the end of one day at Craigieburn I decided to turn them in as they were not for me!
You might think that experience would be enough to put me off fat skis for good, but all it did was fuel my passion for finding the perfect all round ski, one that could perform across all manner of terrain and mountain and cater for my every skiing need. A few years past and as time went by my skiing needs changed and endless days of free riding gave way to full days of teaching, which was now accounting for 99% of my time on snow. I wanted a slightly longer ski to account for my diminishing lack of fore/aft balance, however I still wanted a ski that was manoeuvrable enough to handle tight turns and technical skiing.
So began a long and fun process of ski testing. Some skis I had pretty much written off before loading the first lift and I was not often wrong, however others had me umming and arring for almost a hundred days before they were thrown on the proverbial scrap heap. The results were pretty conclusive and were beginning to conjure up the perfect ski design in my head. I found that skis with a deep shaped rocker tended to bend up at the front often sending me over the ‘handle bars’, where as non-rockered skis would nose dive and make it hard work in the variable density NZ powder. Non-reverse side cuts tended to tip over, but too much sidecut or too softer ski would over bend causing an overly tight radius.
The conclusion and final design brief was that I wanted a ski that acted like a slalom ski on hard pack, and then in soft snow was floaty, predictable and solid under pressure, cruising at high speeds on a longer radius turn (not too much to ask is it??). On top of all that I wanted to feel minimal effect on my fore/aft balance in soft snow, which proved the hardest thing of all to achieve.
The desired ski profile was created:
Tip- Rockered and boat-shaped hull style- Why? The boat shape displaces the snow to the side and allows for a progressive build up in pressure. It also deals well with hitting denser, slower snow, creating minimal forward motion of the skier.
Tail- Again rockered but without the boat shape hull- Why? This allows the ski to sit flat in deep snow without a flat tail digging in at the back, which would contribute to a harsh forward flex of the ankle when the rider is perpendicular to the snow.
Side cut- 136 – 110 – 128 with a stiff flexing tip- Why? Prevents the ski from over flexing in deep snow and giving an undesired tight radius. Stiff tip means longer radius!
Body flex- stiff/medium- Why? Solid on all terrain with a predictable nature, while maintaining that lively, snappy feel.
Tail flex- medium/soft- Why? Allows the tails to bend up rather than sink in deep snow, which in turns keeps the skis more level to the slope angle. This allows for a more predictable, skidded turn on all conditions in a defensive situation.
With the design brief and ski profile nailed down, I approached Mike who is the developer for Igneous skis based in Jackson Hole, USA. Mike really ran with the project and after hundreds of R & D hours, consultations with engineers, prototypes and art designs, the Craigieburner BC 181cm ski was born!
At this point I’d like to give a big shout out to Zag skis and Dynastar who pioneered rocker technology and the boat shaped hull. The emergence of rocker technology really got my creative juices flowing and has helped me accomplish this dream!
The first test was at my old stomping ground, the Torlese Range. The day began with an awesome four hour tour up to the summit. The skis were lightweight (just 6kgs with a Marker F10 binding) and felt well balanced for kick turns etc. The skis on the way down were full on and everything I wanted them to be. Superfast to accelerate in soft snow and yet super snappy like a slalom ski on hard pack. I had a few lucky escapes in some sun-baked crusty powder, but the combination of the rocker technology and some early season fitness training saved the day. (Skip to around the one minute mark for the best footage!)
After a hard days skiing I was amazed how well the concept had progressed from a dream on paper through to the end product. Getting used to the super fast acceleration took a while, but once you get that down the skis leave you speechless. Side by side to traditional powder skis on slightly denser snow, the Craigieburner left them for dead. I managed ten tight turns to my fellow skier on the traditional skis, who managed three fall line turns and yet I still reached the bottom before him.
These skis are not for the feint hearted, but for someone looking for a ski that makes variable snow conditions feel smooth with minimal fore/aft affect on the rider, yet still maintaining super fast acceleration and a lively feel, this are the skis for you.
I have other options available if you would like a slightly mellower version, or for the super charger, no holds barred skier there is a 201cm version!
If you would like to find out more about these skis or place an order you can contact me at jaseskiwi@hotmail.com.
