CARVING &
SUPER SIDECUT
SKis....
The term 'carving ski' (also known as shaped, parabolic or super-sidecut skis) applies to modern skis which, when stood on their tip, have a pronounced "carve" alon g the edge of the ski. Typically, the tip and tail of the ski are much wider than the middle of the ski and this difference is known as the "sidecut". It is commonly expressed in cm such as 100-72-90 meaning the width at the tip is 100cm, at the middle is 72cm and at the tail is 90cm. Another way of expressing sidecut is the turn radius of the ski (i.e., if the ski performed its tightest full circle turn, the radius of that turn). Not surprisingly, carving skis has smaller turn radii than traditional skis (typically 12-18m compared to 32-45m).
This sidecut basically means the skis are easier to turn for a couple of reasons. Firstly, when the skier applies his or her weight through the boot/binding interface on the middle of the ski, the ski cuts a "carve" in the snow simply by nature of its shape. Secondly, carving skis are shorter than their traditional counterparts, because the additional width at the tip and the tail means that the overall surface area of the ski in contact with the snow is the same - and shorter skis are easier to turn.
Hopefully the following diagrams below will better illustrate what I'm banging on about!
1. TRADITIONAL SKI
There is still a side cut on most traditional skis, allowing turns to be carved to a degree.
Compare this though to number 2 below
2. CARVING SKI
Now you can see how there is a more pronounced carve running down the side of the ski, allowing tighter turning characteristics than the traditional ski.
Not bad but the way things are going even this is pretty conventional - check out number 3 !
3. RADICAL CARVING SKI
Wey hey! Now we are talking super sidecut!
As you can see, the more dramatic the sidecut, the more pronounced the carve of the turn.
Sneeze on one of these babies and you'll be doing a 180!
One of the tales behind the reasoning for introducing carving skis in the first place is quite a story..........
Basically, the FIS were becoming concerned at the number of injuries during races and put this down to the increased speed of racers. So, they decided to move the race gates closer together to try and slow the skiers down.
The ski manufacturers responded by developing carving skis which cut a turn more easily. They were actually
first introduced in racing teams in the early 1990s, and the graph shows the results for the Italian ski team - the total number of knee injuries went through the roof. The theory was that the skiers simply weren't used to skis that turned and responded so aggressively - as time went by the team got used to their new skis and the rate of knee injuries decreased.
So what about Joe Public? Well, it didn't take the ski manufacturers long to realise the potential of these skis in the mass market - nowadays its extremely hard to buy a non-carving ski. The manufacturers sell them on the basis that they are easier to ski, that beginners can progress more quickly and that skiers will be able to respond quicker to an emergency situation and hence less injuries will be seen.
