Ski Design for Telemark

Abstract

There are two types of down-hill skiing. The most common is alpine skiing so consequently, all skis are designed for that type of skiing. The other is telemark skiing which involves a free heel and is performed by effectively doing lunges down the hill. The problem is that the actions performed while turning in alpine and turning in telemark place different forces on skis and as a result, skis designed for alpine do not preform exactly as intended when used in telemark. The current solution is to mount telemark bindings further back on the ski, however that results in imbalance, especially when in the air. To combat this difficulty, I want to design a ski to accommodate the different stress profile that comes from telemark skiing without having to compromise balance. This would involve looking at materials used in different sections of the ski in addition to shapes and weight distributions. I would be working of a stress profile for commonly used skis and modifying them to meet telemark skier's needs.