Latest trends in skis, boots and boards

By COLIN MOORE

Carving skis have already reached their second generation. The hourglass shape is much the same but there have been radical developments to allow skiers to get the best from their carvers.

Carving a turn relies on a ski with a pronounced concave edge bending so that the ski forms a curve. But the length of a rigid ski boot, and the bindings at the front and back of it, stop the curve being a perfect parabola.

Older skiers will remember that Look turntable bindings were promoted as having the advantage of reducing the length of that rigid dead spot.

Other binding manufacturers tried to minimise the dead spot by introducing some lateral flex in the rear binding.

Lessening the effect of the dead spot is more crucial with modern carving skis, particularly as they may be 20cm shorter than an older-style ski while the length of a boot and binding is unchanged.

Ski and binding makers have come up with several ways to solve the problem. Essentially the various systems allow the binding mechanism to "float" which enables a ski to flex freely in a parabola beneath the boot.

Well, at least that's the manufacturers' story and as Scott Davidson, ski and boot technician at the Snow Centre in Auckland demonstrates it, the system seems to work.

There is a catch, however. In recent years the major ski equipment makers have foregone their historic specialisation and begun to make skis, boots and bindings.

So the evolution of carving skis is a marketing dream because now on many models the skis and bindings are integrated. No more mix and match or fitting your old bindings to the latest skis.

Another development this season is for the latest binding models to integrate the "risers" that increase the height of a boot above the ski. The "risers" were previously separate plates.

Davidson, who manages a ski retail shop in Fesno, California, and is on his first winter in New Zealand, says risers evolved with the advent of carving skis because the extra height increases the leverage a skier can apply, thus making it easier to carve turns.

As skis have become wider at the tip and tail they have also become shorter. That makes torsional stiffness important if the skis are to maintain an edge on hard snow, hence there is a greater use of titanium in this season's skis.

As well, almost all models have some sort of dampening system which stops a ski from vibrating and helps it to maintain contact with the snow from tip to tail - again, a consequence of shorter skis.

Ski boots have also felt the carving evolution. The return to four-buckle boots is almost universally complete.

Davidson explains that skiing on carving skis, which involves rolling onto the ski edges, requires boots with a firm side-to-side leverage. Rear-entry boots, which have a cut up each side of the boot, are too soft.

"Boots need to be stiffer so that when you shift from side to side you put a ski on edge," says Davidson.

One aid to more precise edge control is to have a custom-fitted boot liner. Many of the upper end boots are fitted with liners that are heated and then mould to the shape of your foot.

A customised footbed also eliminates movement in a ski boot and helps get a ski on edge with a simple roll of the ankle.

The popularity of snowboarding has also created a demand for extra-short, twin-tipped skis. Skiing hot doggers on these little beasts are mixing it in the half pipes with the best snowboarders.

A skiing-snowboard crossover is going on in the latest clothing, too. It is most noticeable in the box-cut style and muted colours of jackets which will be worn by both skiers and boarders. And ski pants show no sign of a return to tight-fitting stretch.