I have two new pairs in the works. One pair will have a maple core, mixed with steel and a sprinkle of other ingredients. The other pair centers around a popular + fir + pine core.
I hope to finish them soon and with details to follow...
Skis are done:
I was in a hurry to finish these. It's not my best work, but they will work just fine. The left and right pair are 180 cm and 175 cm long, respectively. For some reason both tail spacers on the left pair shifted considerably. I have a minor convexity problem with the left pair above the binding too, but I know what caused it. Then there's the small white piece of unidentified tape stuck to the base of the right pair. Where in the world did that come from?
As promised, here are the details:
Left pair
Those skis look mighty fine to me. You sure are fast with the trimmin' and finishin'.
G-man
Yeah but when you look more closely, you'll find air bubbles, wavy lines, dings, scratches, misalignment of parts, etc. But they should last at least one run...
Well, at least you didn't get any garbage between the layers... I had one pair that somehow managed to pick up a piece of dowel material under the top sheet... when the ski came out of the press, it had a giant wart! So, like a human wart, I sliced the top sheet, retrieved the cancerous piece, and patched it back together.
Greg, thats nothing... I managed to hide a pair of scissors in one of my snowboards...
I enjoyed skiing on the right pair this past weekend with friends from Seattle and Salt Lake City. Sorry G-man that we could not meet up, but soon I hope.
The original weekend plan was to camp/ski at Lassen NP, but the unappealing weather forecast made us reconsider. I can handle rain. I can handle heavy snow. I can even handle no snow on skis with a big smile. But lightning and ski poles gives me a negative 'vibe'. Instead, we drove south along HW395, encouraged by the 30-40% of precip, in hopes of skiing Tioga Pass. When we arrived at the 120/395 junction early Sat. afternoon, we found the pass closed until further notice. With no easy access to the snow, we camped near the gate for the night. Five inches fell overnight, but the pass was still closed. So Sunday morning we drove further south, first stopping at the base of McGee Mtn., just a stone's throw southeast of the 203/395 junction. It would have been an adventure to log in turns on McGee, so we continued for 10 more minutes down 395, stopping to debate over Tiptop and Prospect Peak, neighbors of McGee. It was a split decision in the group, so we drove to higher ground up 203, stopping at Lake Mary, then skinning from the car to Mammoth Crest, passing Crystal Crag. It was snowing heavily when we stopped.
My skis were great. I enjoyed the soft flex and sidecut very much. I had not grinded or waxed the bases so they were slow and grabby, but other than that they skied wonderfully. This is one of my favorite skis so far. I have many favorite skis, by the way.
I inspected the sidewalls and tip/tail. No delams so far so I'm assuming the flame treatment is working. Finally. Also, I am using a different type of VDS that will soon be available in our store. The rubber feels more elastic and is tan in color, like a latex glove. Bonding seemed good.
After our tour, we hit a local laundromat to dry our ski gear, sleeping bags, etc. That night we camped about 20 miles east of Carson City. No rain this time. On Monday morning we drove up HW431 and toured up to Tamarack. The weather was decent and snowing a bit at the top. We skied a nice semi-tracked line and again I felt that my skis worked really well. I was on G-3 Targa bindings as opposed to my BD 01's. I will do more testing in a few weeks in the NW to see how they continue to handle, but so far so good.
The left pair I handed over to a friend as a gift.
the irridescent topsheet on the right pair gives those skis a really professional look. i know you used a dark colored fabric underneath, but it almost doesn't matter what color, because the skis look indigo blue from pretty much every angle. i wonder how they'd come out with light colored or white fabric underneath? anyway, nice work on those, they look really good. did you come up with a name for them yet?
