What is causing these Skis to Hook Like This?

[kirtland]

Harald,
Would you watch how these skis hook and relesase hook and release in this video. You can begin to see it at :25 but it shows up the most at 1:00 on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMHcLgU ... re=related

I don't speak Japanese so I don't know if the monologue is talking about it.
I ask because I have a pair of Atomic SL 9 which did the same thing.
When I first got them they did it because they would become concave when they got cold. Because of the densolite core and the width, when they were surfaced in the shop they would be flat, if you rubbed them with something to warm them up the would be convex, if you put them in the snow they would be concave. The bases eventually stabilized and stayed flat and skied fairly well for a couple of years Last year I had the bases completely redone and they were even worse than when I initially got them. They would behave like the skis in this video. If not worse. We fooled around with dulling the edges back and beveling more, but it didn't help much. My theory is that the ski lost it's torsional stiffness and would flatten out and release and then torque back and grab again then release again. I gave up on the skis and stuck them in the pile of other old skis. When I saw this video I saw skis doing the same thing.

What is your take on it?

Kirt Brown

[Max_501]

That's how skis behave when you lay them over in uneven chopped up snow.

[h.harb]

I can give you two answers, the short and long. Well let's start with the short answer. Atomic are very difficult to make work well. Well at least they are difficult to make work for most skiers. They buck and bit and you don't know when they are going to do it. They do have a few good turns in them, when the tune is just right, the snow is right for the tune and you are felling good. They are super hard to tune. I don't need skis like that.

They don't carve, they cut into the snow, much to aggressive! On some snow they are absolutely impossible to make work, like the white snowmaking snow when it gets hard. BTW, Bodie said just about the same thing when he began skiing on Head. He said the Heads carve, the Atomics grab. It has to do with the torsion and the cap construction. To use a cap, you have to make the ski really stiff torsionally or it won't hold. It's a cheaper way to make skis.

I'm not sure the Japanese skier is on Atomics? Looks like the slope grooming ridges are really uneven.

[Bolter]

This reassures me. Every year I tune skis for racers and instructors, quite a large number of them. I don't look forward to Atomics in the vises. The Heads, Nordicas and Elans I tune are a pleasure. I do not encouraged Atomics because they are on and off in performance, regardless of tune (IMHO). I thought it had something to do with the "BETA" cap construction. Grippy, cold, hard man made is super tough to ski on a cap. A straight side-wall, wood laminated ski is easier to tune and ski in all conditions and they will produce a predictable feel and response on snow.

[h.harb]

You can add Fischers to the good ski list. The race stock Blizzards and Stocklie are also good.

[BigE]

Does anyone have an opinion on the retail Volkl racetiger SL?

[grambo]

I just skied the Volkl Racetiger SL Racing (not the race stock) this weekend and loved it. I used it for slalom training but also took some free runs and even ventured into the moguls. It holds on hardpack and ice as well as, if not better than, any ski I've skied and turns on a dime. It is somewhat stiff, but I still enjoyed it very much in the moguls. I would strongly recommend this ski for expert skiers who are aspiring racers or recreational racers. FYI, I have been a long time Volkl fan and have been skiing on the six star for some time now, which I love and use for GS. I'm 5'11", 175lbs, and skied the Racetiger SL in 165. If I had the money, I would've bought the pair I demoed, which were new.

[BigE]

Thanks, I had the same experience with them. By far the most edge grip of any ski I've been on. It wants to engage so much that it requires solid technique, good alignment and effort to make it brush.