i am wondering why skate skis are designed with (when unloaded) a
pocket in the middle.
i can see why you would want a pocket if you were putting kick wax in
there but skaters are putting glide wax on the entire ski. ice skaters
certainly have a very flat ice-skate interface with no pocket. if the
reason is to circumvent the effect of weight on the center of the ski i
would argue that the ski needs to be made of a material that does not
flex very much.
this would save weight and also make skis which would not need to be
matched to skier's weight. for example - a titanium/carbon fiber ski
might be possible.
thankyou for your comments in advance.