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Twin Parabolic Ski: The ski of the future?
While I was skiing in Colorado this weekend, I had my first mid-hill collision, up-ending a kid while I was tearing down Jacque's Pique. Everyone was fine, but it might have been much worse if I had been on a snowboard. With two long skis to carve edges into the slope, I was able to slow down quickly enough at the last second to prevent a serious impact. On a snowboard, with only one edge on the hill, it would have been harder to control my speed.
Now imagine that instead of two edges, I had four. That's the idea behind the Twin Parabolic Ski. Built for racing, each ski is actually two skis in one, connected via hinges with the binding upraised in the middle. Now when I need to turn or stop, I've got four edges instead of two, giving me even more control over my speed. In that scenario, maybe there's no impact at all.
The Twin Parabolic Ski is the brainchild of Charlie Pyott, and it's more than just a concept. Pyott has actually built working prototypes out of refurbished skis, though there's no data on whether anyone's actually skied on them (the shots of skiers racing with them on his site are clearly Photoshops). But the concept sounds like it has a lot of potential, and considering skis today look completely different than models from 15 years ago, the Twin Parabolic could be the ski everyone's using in the future.
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Charlie Pyott, via Yanko Design
By digitaltree515 at 9:05 PM ON 03/03/09
While the skis look interesting, the way the article is written is a bit retarded. I'm a snowboarder and I definitely don't have any problems controlling my speed, even though I only have one edge. It's all about how much pressure you apply. I'm mildly annoyed.
By dancesonsnow at 2:28 AM ON 03/04/09
As a professional Ski Instructor, my first reaction to this was to vomit; my second was "maybe the idea has merit, but I don't think the physics will work out quite the way he thinks they will"; my third was, it will probably be relegated to the realm of Snowblades and Snowbikes.
Then I saw the diagram of the turn with his skis, vs. without... and I was right back at vomiting.
That diagram is more of a comparison of how people should turn vs. how they actually do turn. But I guarantee you that Olympic level skiers can turn their skies like the blue diagram shows just fine with out a second pair of skis attached to their feet.
What I think is going to kill this idea is chatter. At 80 or 90mph (and no these speeds are not unreasonable, I've used a GPS to clock myself at 70mph) even slight imperfections in the snow surface cause the tip to bounce up and down rather violently. If the tips of these twin skis are linked then vibrations on one ski could pull the other off the snow, reducing the stability of both edges. If the tips are not linked, then one tip could bounce into the other, or worse yet get stuck on top of or under the other.
Who knows, maybe this is the best thing to happen to skies since the invention of the parabolic side cut. Until this guy actually builds one we will never know, but for now I have very serious doubts.
By dancesonsnow at 2:33 AM ON 03/04/09
I should re-state: until this guy actually gets video of people racing on them we will never know...
By THELUCK at 8:16 AM ON 03/04/09
In the end the only thing I see these skis doing is increasing resistance and therefore taking away speed. More edges on the surface may give you a better handling but will most definitely cost you time. Not to mention the added weight of having 4 skies on instead of two. Simple is always better.
By Lothar at 10:29 AM ON 03/05/09
Uhh....this is one those things that look good only on paper....oh wait, no it doesn't. The diagram that shows how people turn without this ski is completely false. With the advent of shape skis, a significant portion of the skiing community skis the Blue diagram way. The argument of the designer that this ski will solve a problem that doesn't need to be solved is a bit ludicrous. Unless your a terminal intermediate who still skids their tails, even then, you have bigger problems than a ski that will increase edge angle and edge contact.
By elainewhiteford at 10:43 AM ON 03/08/09
FIRST OFF I'M NOT A SKIER... BUT TO ME IT LOOKS LIKE IT WOULD SLOW YOU DOWN DUE TO MORE RESISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO BLADES/SKI'S, WHEN THE SNOW HITS THE V WHERE THEY COME TOGETHER TO ME THAT LOOKS LIKE RESISTANCE FOR SURE AND NOT SPEED
BUT LIKE I SAID I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON SKI' SO I GUESS I COULD BE WRONG. GUESS WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT TILL THEY ARE PUT INTO ACTUAL USE TO FIND OUT HUH?
By PeepsMcJuggs at 3:22 PM ON 03/08/09
Uh...yeah...I see an even bigger problem: can you imagine how freakin' heavy those things would be? I think turning would suck MORE (not that it ever really sucked to begin with). This is about as brilliant an invention as the suck-cut.
By intrigued at 11:47 AM ON 03/11/09
Just out of curiosity, do you know if this Charlie Pyott person has tried or is trying to patent this invention?
By moresnow at 6:12 PM ON 03/11/09
Good joke LOL
Thanks
By Yulia(dot)Ru at 7:53 AM ON 03/12/09
I think... You have to try snowboard first then say. It's not that a big problem to stop if you really control your snowboard.
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I think... You have to try snowboard first then say. It's not that a big problem to stop if you really control your...More »