My Page for Explaining Ski Fundamentals...
Specialist in Human Powered Travel	Mark Zen P. O. BOX 474 Ft. Lupton, Colorado             80621-0474

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• What do skis do for you?
• What are some disadvantages of skis?
• How do skis work?
  • How does camber work?
  • How does sidecut work?

Skis are transportation across snow.
Skis allow you to "float" on snow, without sinking.
Skis allow you to travel faster than on snowshoes.

The speed of skis make them harder to control than snowshoes.
Skis are not as maneuverable as snowshoes, 
        turning in place is difficult.
Waxing for kick and glide takes practice, 
        non-wax skis are dogs in performance.

There are several phases to skiing. Think of it like walking. First one 
foot forward, then the next. It is almost that simple. There are many 
factors all working together to make skis work.

First, let's look at a pair of skis from 2 sides: top & side views:

While these are slightly exagerated representations, they should convey
several facts:

The tips of skis curve upwards, this allows the skier to slide their
        skis forward, without digging into the snow in front of the ski.

The waist of the ski is higher, relative to the tips and tails.
	When you put two skis together, bottom to bottom, there
	is a gap in the middle. This gap is called camber.

The waist of the ski is narrower than the tip and tail of the ski.
	This helps the ski to turn. This is called side cut.

When you stand on both skis [cross country type], with your weight evenly
distributed, the center of the skis [waist] should not touch the ground.
You should be able to slide a sheet of paper under the skis, and pull it to 
the other side, without resistance. When you shift your weight to one ski, 
the paper should not budge. This is a fine balance/trade-off.

The concept is thus: When skiing [walking on skis], you transfer weight from
one ski to the other and back. When you are fully weighted on one ski, you
should get traction from the center of the ski, then as you slide that ski
forward, your weight shifts evenly across the skis, and you should glide. It
is a shuffling type step/glide/step/glide.

What you want from the ski is, a slick tip & tail, so you can glide, and a 
sticky waist, so you get traction. This can be accomplished in one of two
ways [with lots of variation between manufacturer's]. The first is good old
ski wax [more later], the second is a waxless ski. The waxless ski should
probably be waxed with a "glider" wax on the tip and tail. To give traction
on the snow, manufacturers use one of several methods: a stairstep bottom,
a "fishscale" bottom [which are really variations of each other], or a 
furlike insert, such as mohair. The picture below represents the way the
bottom of the skis work, allowing the ski to slide one way, and not the 
other. You can also use "skins," that you mount to the bottom of the ski, 
to gain additional traction.

Mohair strips work the same way, allowing the ski to slide one way, and not 
the other. Now, you need to realize, this is simplified. If the waxless
pattern is too deep or too long, it will create drag, and slow you down.
Waxless skis work very well on wet snow, poorly on powder type snow. This
is a result of the interaction between the ski and the snow. Wet snow
will compress and stick together well, dry snow doesn't. The wet snow will
clump, and freeze somewhat, giving you something semi-solid to gain much
needed traction.

Map courtesy of USGS

• XC Ski Glossary
• XC Ski Waxing Page
• XC Ski Clothing Page

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