Custom Skis Design
In this section you’ll find some common terms relating to custom skis design. that will help you on your way as you start your design. We design every custom ski to each customer’s specifications. With our expert guidance, customers have direct input on the design of their ski. This includes the shape of the tip and tail, sidecut, amount of camber and or rocker, length, width and flex characteristics.
Additional factors such as ability, height, weight, typical speed and intended use of the ski are also considered in each design. Optional items such as skin notches can also be included. Below you’ll find some useful ski design terms to help describe the type of ski you want to build.
No matter what type of custom ski design you want to build we have you covered. We are experienced in building a variety of designs including front side carvers, all-mountain, free ride and powder designs. Not sure what you want? Let us help you figure it out. You can start the design process by filling out our design template.
Ski Design Terms
Running Length
Distance between the contact points on the base.
Traditional Camber
The upward arc of the ski profile away from the snow surface, from the base of the tip to the base of the tail. Camber gives a ski lots of energy on the finish of the turn but takes energy to de-camber first. This is the solid choice for a dedicated front-side carver or all mountain design.
Reverse Camber
The opposite of camber. The center or waist of the ski sits lower than the tip and tail. This design is great for skiing deep soft snow and allows for easy pivoting and smearing of turns. It is not so great on groomed or hard snow.
Flat Camber
The mid-section of the ski lies flat against the snow surface. Eliminating the camber from a ski makes turning easy since the ski does not have to be de-cambered first. This design is surprisingly powerful on groomers and hard snow. A flat cambered ski also performs well in powder.
Rocker/Early Rise
An exaggerated tip length and rise when compared to a traditional shaped tip or tail. A ski with tip rocker will be easier to turn and will have better float in deep snow as compared to a traditionally shaped ski. This is primarily due to the angle at which the tip rises making the ski plane up to the surface in deep snow. A big rockered tip essentially planes the ski to the surface. A rockered tail will release from a turn easier allowing smoother pivots and smearing capability but you might sacrifice hard snow performance.
Mixed Camber
This is a combination of rocker and traditional camber. This usually involves a rockered tip section, camber underfoot and a rockered tail section. This might also includes a rockered tip with a traditionally shaped mid-section and tail. This type of design is a compromise of sorts. The slight camber underfoot improves on-piste performance and makes a rockered ski manageable on hard snow. It also provides a bit of energy return in technical situations when you need a little pop to accelerate you into the next turn.
Sidecut
This term describes how the dimensions of the ski effect turn radius. The more sidecut you have will result in a tighter turning ski, less sidecut equals a larger turn radius.
Mixed Sidecut
This term describes the use of both reverse and traditional sidecut. This can come in the form of reverse sidecut in the tip only or in both the tip and the tail. The advantage of this is easy turn initiation in the tip and a more loose feeling in the tail. Use of either of these sidecut forms will decrease the overall running lenght of the ski creating a shorter turn radius even when on a longer ski. When combined with various rocker designs you can create a very playful, versatile ski.
Radius
This refers to how tight an arc a ski will carve when placed on edge. This is measured in meters. A short turning carving ski would have a radius in the 13-15 meter range. An all mountain ski might be in the range of 15-19 meter. Ski geared towards freeride performance would be in the 17-22 range and skis that are more powder specific would be in the mid-high 20’s or even low 30 meters range. Some designs are now using multiple radii with the front ½ of the ski having a smaller radius that the back ½. Some skis will even have a flatter side cut underfoot giving them third radius. Skis like this create a variable turn shape depending on how the ski is pressured through the turn.
Taper
This describes how much smaller the tail of the ski is in relation to the tip. This is calculated as tip dimension minus tail dimension. A ski with more taper will be looser in a turn than a ski with less taper. A ski with more taper will also allow the tail to sink more in powder conditions. My free ride and powder designs usually incorporate tapers in the range of 14-17 mm. Skis geared towards more front-side performance will have less taper in the 10-13 mm range to improve edge hold of the tail in a carved turn.
Flex
This is basically how stiff the ski is. When talking about skis we need to discuss longitudinal flex and torsional flex. Longitudinal flex is mainly influenced by core thickness as well as type of composite layers. A softer ski is more forgiving for smaller or less skilled skiers. A softer ski will also be easier to ski in powder conditions and requires less effort. A stiff ski will have better edge hold in firm conditions and will bust through cut up snow, crust, crud and mank. A ski that is more torsionally stiff will also tend to have better edge hold in firm conditions as it will resist the twisting forces applied to it during a carved turn.
Length
One last thing to consider when sizing your ski is how rocker affects the running length of the ski. Skis with mixed camber or rocker tend to ski shorter than a traditionally shaped ski of the same length. For example in a 185cm ski with a 35 cm rockered tip and a 30cm rockered tail you end up with a running length of 120cm. (185cm – 65cm = 120cm) This makes for a very easy turning ski, even though it may be considered to be long by current standards. Most expert skiers will want to size up a little when selecting a ski with rocker.
