"Steve FZ1" wrote in message
...
From the write-up, it's pretty clear that ski / snowboard flex
isn't considered. Although he mentions the concept a few times, it
never enters into his equations. Hence, these calculations are
really good for the Binford Steel I-beam ski construction.

However, when a ski is properly loaded, the flex is VERY
significant, when compared to the unloaded sidecut. When on edge,
the weight shifts from the center of the ski to the tip and tail,
which forces the ski to bend into a much tighter radius edge. A
ski with only a cm, lets say, of side cut now flexes several inches
toward the center of the circle identified by the radius. The
result? A greatly reduced turn radius due to the "new" ski radius.

I have a set of old Rossi 4XKs that had almost no visible sidecut.
I don't know what the radius of the edge was.... but it wasn't
much. However, when you put them on edge and they loaded up and
flexed, they turned like demons, enought that initiating the next
turn just meant "relax" and fall down the hill.... they'll catch up
quickly. The new skis with the much more pronounced sidecuts (I
now ski K2 Axis XPs) essentially make this transition much easier,
but the concept is the same.

- Steve

And on high speed SG turns I used the whole ski so the bend was
overall and easy to understand. Reading your post made me consider
the slower, slalom and powder turns. It starts at the tip, bending
the front of the ski. Works to the middle and finally off of the
tail. I wonder what the radius is of the front 1/3 of the ski when
the turn is initiated?

pigo