Hourglass is the shape

By COLIN MOORE

The evolution of hourglass-shaped carving skis continues unabated this season. In accordance with classic Darwinian theory, the wide-shovelled mutation thrown out by Elan a few years ago has survived against the predations of snowboards and the impatience of a culture that wants to have fun in a hurry.

Other manufacturers have been quick to modify the short ski-hourglass concept, and you won't find any other shape on the rack now. The only skiers using long and straight are the daredevils who fly over Olympic jumps or scoot down mountains in a straight line at more than 150km/h.

At Sun Peaks, Canada, last year I was able to ski with Olympic great and Canada's athlete of the millennium, Nancy Greene. The diminutive Greene won her gold medals on skis more than 200cm long, but she was skiing short and shapely carvers and extolling their virtues.

"It's so easy," she said. "We had to train for years to be able to carve turns like this. Now it's effortless."

But carving skis are now entering their third full season. Doesn't that make the concept almost old hat? No way - the development is only just beginning.

Early carvers were not much more than a conventionally constructed ski with a wide tip and tail and made a lot shorter. And that's a bit like drastically reducing the wheelbase on a car without making a lot of changes to the engineering to make sure you can still drive it safely.

Building a ski with an extreme sidecut so it will create a parabola when pushed on its edge and thus turn easy, is one thing, but skis need to do a lot of other things beside turn, such as travel in a straight line without snaking around like a drunk driver, and hold an edge across an icy traverse. To manage that when you have skis with a length of only 170cm underneath you instead of 210cm requires some tinkering with the engineering.

You want a ski to bend into a parabola but not have the tip chattering up and down across the ice or hardpack. So the ski makers have designed dampeners, which work a bit like shock absorbers.

To hold an edge you need torsional stiffness. You can understand that by getting a plastic ruler, grasping it at each end and twisting longitudinally. The result is not what you want your skis to do.

Of course, every ski-maker claims to have the perfect engineering solution. There's probably no such thing, because as with all design issues there are a lot of trade-offs involved; weight, price and performance in different snow conditions are just some of them.

Most carving ski development for this season, however, has been on the crucial interface between boot/binding and ski.

Neal Hunt, owner of the Auckland Snow Centre, explains why the binding attachment is so important. Skis have got smaller but people's feet haven't. That means the rigid boot sole area between front and rear binding is a proportionally greater area of a modern ski, with less free flexing ski in the front and rear of your boot.

The solution, in full force this season with most skis, is to have the bindings located on a plate that is able to move laterally on at least one end, when a ski bends underneath it. The binding is thus semi-independent of the ski and doesn't stop the ski flexing into a parabola.

Some manufacturers have integrated bindings into a sliding plate; some have integrated the plate into the ski.

What you can't do - this season anyway - is buy a stand-alone sliding plate that will accommodate any binding and can be attached to any ski. Which is a bit of a nuisance for those of us who use specialist alpine touring bindings.

A major reason against such hybridisation is that the days of different, specialised manufacturers for boots, bindings and skis are pretty much over. A trend is already under way for the major manufacturers to make all three pieces of equipment in an integrated package.

The upside to a reduction in choice is an end to the days of drilling holes in new skis to mount bindings. Now, an integrated binding is attached to a series of threaded slots built into the skis - just like on snowboards - depending on boot size.

Boots haven't escaped the carving development either. At Sun Peaks, Greene told us to loosen our boot buckles and roll our ankles. The bootmakers have translated that sort of advice into boot design.

Gone are the days when you needed a stiff boot and considerable forward pressure to control huge planks. Now they turn by being rolled on edge - so boots have become softer fore and aft and stiffer laterally.

Another development this season is to fine-tune ski types to suit different conditions and ski styles. That doesn't mean you need a golf bag of different skis before you tee-off for each run. But it does mean it is probably a good idea to think about where and how you do most of your skiing before buying new equipment.

Ironically, the cause of all this revolution in ski design and technique - the snowboard - seems to have reached an evolutionary plateau, with the hot doggers having pretty much eclipsed the alpine cruisers. Boards with a squared-off end have all but gone, as have stiff plastic, ski-style boots and clip-on or step-in bindings. Now it's almost exclusively twin-tipped boards, soft boots and strap-in bindings.

The strap-in bindings, often integrated with a brand of snowboard, have become easier to adjust, and the boots have become quite sophisticated. Some have just a single ribbon to pull to tighten them.

Clothing has continued in the same direction as last year with ski and snowboard styles merging, colours being relatively sombre and jackets, particularly, being in styles that you can wear on the slopes at the weekend and to university or the office on weekdays. Layered dressing for the weather, used in the likes of tramping, has moved onto the slopes so that outer layers are rarely padded. Modern fabrics are so wind-resistant, while staying breathable, that often a lightweight woollen polo shirt is all that is required under a jacket, even on the most bitter days.

Of course, you have to pay for this, even with a dollar that is holding up well against the greenback and generally keeping prices of snow gear stable.

A good jacket will cost around $600. You can spend more than $1000 to get one with every conceivable pocket and whistle, including a built-in camel pack, a watch window at the wrist, and a goggle pocket that includes a goggle wipe.

Hunt says the biggest change you'll notice on the mountains this year is the prevalence of helmets. They have been popular in North America for several years following the deaths in skifield accidents of Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy.

Hunt says he used a helmet in Canada earlier this year and now wouldn't ski without one.

"We don't have through-the-trees skiing here," he says, "but we have a lot of rocks."

The latest helmets are so light you hardly notice they are on. And unlike cycle helmets, they are designed for multiple impacts.

"It takes a few days to get used to losing some peripheral vision and hearing," says Hunt. "But after that you'll never be on the slopes without it."

Beat the big chill


You've got all your equipment, but there are still a few other factors that need to be considered before you take off for the slopes. Safety is a high priority, especially if you're going off-piste or skiing away from the crowds. One slip-up and you could find yourself in difficulty.

Here are some tips to help you to have a safe time on the snow.

Think ahead

Check weather conditions before setting out. Tell someone where you're going and when you expect to return. Don't rely on mobile phones.

Be prepared

You'll need plenty of warm, waterproof clothing, food and drink, emergency equipment, sun protection and, if you are walking, a map and compass that you know how to use.

Get out early

Make the most of the snow by getting out early during the best part of the day and getting back before conditions become freezing, and thick fog and ice settle on the road.

Staying alive

In cold or wet conditions, inadequate clothing, tiredness and insufficient food could combine to cause your body temperature to drop below normal (hypothermia); this can lead to collapse or even death if untreated. Signs of hypothermia are often mistaken for fatigue.

Danger signs

A victim of hypothermia feels exhausted, lags behind, stumbles and is reluctant to continue walking, skiing or playing. They are cold to the touch, the pulse is low and their breathing is slow and shallow. The sufferer may also be difficult to reason with.

Treatment

If someone has hypothermia they must be treated immediately. Warm the person from the inside out by giving them something warm to drink. Avoid external heat such as fire, and shelter from the wind behind rocks or shrubs.

Let the victim's temperature rise gradually; put them into warm, dry clothes and a sleeping bag and warm them with a fit person's body heat. Erect a tent if you have one and put them inside.

Give the patient food and drink - not alcohol - and allow him or her to rest until recovered.