How to Evaluate Flex Distribution for Skate Skis

A skate ski performs best when the conditions match its flex. When a ski glides over the snow it must overcome the resistance from the friction of dry snow or the suction of wet snow. To maximize performance, you must evaluate a ski for flex. For dry snow, longer contact zones are faster. For wet snow, short contact zones are faster. Stiffer skis have shorter contact zones than softer skis.

Things You'll Need

  • Smooth solid floor
  • Piece of paper, 5- by 7-inches
  • Marker
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the skis on a smooth solid floor, such as a polished cement floor.

    • 2

      Compress the ski to half-body weight by standing on both skis with your body weight distributed evenly. All skis have camber, which is the concave arch that runs from the tips to the center. While skiing, you naturally compress the ski's camber with your body weight as you shift from ski to ski. You measure the flex of the ski by seeing how much they compress when weighted with your body.

    • 3

      Slide a piece of paper under the center of the ski where the camber of the ski keeps the ski off the floor, and then slide it toward the tip of the ski. When it stops sliding, mark that point on the ski with a marker. Slide the paper toward the tail of the ski and mark the position where it stops. The contact zone is the surface of the ski still touching the floor, that is, the portion from your forward mark to the tip of the ski and the portion from the rear mark to the tail of the ski.

    • 4

      Compress the ski to full-body weight standing on one ski with one foot. Because all your body weight is now on that ski, the ski compresses to the ground to full-body weight. You can use ski poles for balance. Since you've already marked the ski for half-body weight, this allows you to mark the contact zones for full-body weight.

    • 5

      Repeat the paper test for the other ski.

    • 6

      Look for a ski with even distribution of weight when fully compressed and half compressed. Remember, compression is shown by how much flex you took out of the ski by standing on it with half-body and full-body weight.