Skis, boards and ski technology
According to Chinese scholars, around 8000 B.C. there are references to the first skis in the Altai Mountains. However, other researchers do not agree with this dating. However, we can say that it was then that the history of alpine skiing and ski equipment began.
3000 and The oldest sketches appear on rock paintings made in Rødøy, Norway.
1500 and The oldest known European skis date from this period. They were found in the Swedish province of Angermanland. They were 111 cm long and 9,5 to 10,4 cm wide. At the ends they were about 1 cm thick, and at the ends, under the foot, about 2 cm. There was a groove in the central part to prevent the foot from slipping to the sides. These were not downhill skis, but rather an enlarged sole so that they would not get bogged down in the snow.
400 and The first written mention of skiing. Its author was the Greek historian, essayist and military leader Xenophon. It was created after returning from an expedition to Scandinavia.
1713 First mention of a skier using two poles.
1733 First post about skiing. Its author was the Norwegian military Jen Henrik Emahusen. The book was written in German and contained a lot of information about ski construction and skiing techniques.
1868 The Norwegian farmer and carpenter Sondre Norheim from the province of Telemark, who contributed to the development of skiing, revolutionizes the technique of skiing - he develops a new ski concept. They have a length of 2 to 2,5 m and different widths: 89 mm at the top, 70 mm at the waist, and 76 mm at the heel. This ski geometry pattern will define equipment design for the next 120 years. Norheim has also developed a new ski attachment method. To the already known straps that fasten the foot in the toe area, he attached a tendon of twisted birch roots, covering the heel area. Thus, a prototype of telemark bindings was created, which ensures free movement of the heel in the up and down plane, and at the same time protects against accidental loss of the ski when changing direction or jumping.
1886 The first ski factory is founded in Norway. With its development, a technological race began. At first, skis were made from pressed pine wood, much lighter than walnut or ash.
1888 Norwegian oceanographer and polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) embarks on a ski expedition deep into Greenland. In 1891, a description of his expedition was published - the book Skiing in Greenland. The publication greatly contributed to the spread of skiing in the world. Nansen and his story became an inspiration for other important figures in the history of skiing, such as Matthias Zdarsky.
1893 The first multilayer skis were made. Their designers were the designers of the Norwegian company HM Christiansen. As a base, they used standard hard raw materials, that is, walnut or ash, which were combined with light, but resilient spruce. Despite its undoubted innovation, the idea backfired. The whole concept was destroyed by the lack of an appropriate adhesive that would provide a strong connection of the elements, elasticity and water resistance at the same time.
1894 Fritz Huitfeldt makes metal jaws to hold the front of a ski boot in place. They later became known as Huitfeldt bindings and were the most popular way of attaching the forefoot to skis until the late 30s. The front part of the binding consisted of one piece, integrally attached to the ski, with two "wings" bent upwards, through which a strap was passed, fastening the front of the boot. The heel was fastened with a cable through the guides on the sides of the ski. The product was called Kandahar Cable Binding.
end of XNUMXth century Matthias Zdarsky, an Austrian-based Czech who is considered the father of modern alpine skiing, develops metal bindings to improve alpine skiing technique. They were made of a metal plate fixed in front of the ski hinge. A ski boot was attached to the plate with straps, and the upward movement of the plate with the boot was limited by the action of a spring located in front of the attachment, acting on the movable plate in the front. Zdarsky worked on alpine skiing techniques and adapted the length of skis to alpine conditions. Later he also introduced the use of two poles instead of one long one. During this period, mass skiing is born, which entails the need to produce more and more skis, using more and more advanced technologies.
1928 Austrian Rudolf Lettner from Salzburg uses metal edges for the first time. Modern skis, due to their wooden construction, were easily damaged by mechanical damage to the slider and sidewalls in contact with stones and with each other. Lettner decided to fix this by attaching thin sheet steel straps to the wooden skis. He achieved his goal, the skis became better protected, but the main advantage of his innovation was some kind of side effect. Lettner noticed that the steel-reinforced edges provide much more driving ability, especially on steep slopes.
1928 Two designers, independently of each other, demonstrated the first completely successful model of a ski with a multi-layer construction (after Christiansen's not very successful design of the late XNUMXth century). The first, Bjorn Ullevoldseter, worked in Norway. The second, George Aaland, in Seattle, America. Skis consisted of three layers. This time, adhesives were used that were resistant to moisture and sufficiently elastic, which meant that the individual layers formed a single whole, not too prone to delamination.
1929 The first invention reminiscent of the snowboards known today is considered to be a piece of plywood on which MJ "Jack" Burchett tried to slide down, securing his legs with a rope and reins.
1934 The birth of the first all-aluminum skis. In 1945, Chance Aircraft developed an aluminum and wood sandwich structure called the Metallite and used it to build aircraft. Three engineers, Wayne Pearce, David Ritchie and Arthur Hunt, used this material to make wood-core aluminum skis.
1936 Beginning of the production of multilayer skis in Austria. Kneissl developed the first Kneissl Splitklein and pioneered modern ski technology.
1939 Former Norwegian athlete Hjalmar Hvam is building a new type of binding in the United States, the first with release. It looked like a modern one. It had jaws that overlapped the protruding part of the sole of the boot, wedged into its cutouts. An internal mechanism held the latch in a central position until the forces acting on it were parallel to the axis of the ski and the boot was pressed against the mount.
1947 American aeronautical engineer Howard Head develops the first "metal sandwich" consisting of aluminum and a lightweight plastic core in the form of space honeycombs. After a series of trial and error, skis were created with a plywood core, continuous steel edges and a molded phenolic base. The core was bonded to the aluminum layers by hot pressing. Everything ends with plastic side walls. This way of making skis will dominate for decades.
1950 The first fastening fuses in front and behind the boot, manufactured by Cubco (USA). After refinement, they became the first mounts that fastened with a button, stepping on the heel of the boot. Two years later, the first Fuse Marker (Duplex) mounts appeared.
1955 The first polyethylene slide appears. It was introduced by the Austrian company Kofler. Polyethylene almost immediately replaced the previously used ones in 1952. The first skis using fiberglass - Bud Philips Ski. Resins. He excelled them in every way. The snow did not stick to the skis, and the glide was sufficient in all conditions. This eliminated the need for lubrication. However, the most important was the ability to quickly and cheaply regenerate the base by filling the cavities with molten polyethylene.
1959 The first completely successful design using carbon fibers entered the market. The product idea was developed by Fred Langendorf and Art Molnar in Montreal. Thus began the era of carbon fiber sandwich construction.
1962 Look Nevada II single axle bindings have been created with long wings on the front handles holding the top of the forefoot of the shoe. The patented design remained the basis of Looka's front retainers for the next 40 years.
1965 Sherman Poppen invents snorkels, children's toys that are now considered the first snowboards. These were two regular skis bolted together. However, the author did not stop there - to facilitate the management of the board, he drilled a hole in the bow and pulled the bowstring through it with a handle on his hand.
1952 The first skis made of fiberglass - Bud Philips Ski.
1968 Jake Burton, a snorkel fanatic, perfected Poppen's invention by attaching shoelaces to a board. However, it wasn't until 1977, after graduating from college, that he began producing his patented Burton Boards. At the same time, independently of Burton, Tom Sims, a skateboard star, was working on a snowboard. Wanting to skate all year round, Sims unscrewed his skateboard wheels for the winter and headed for the slopes. Gradually, he improved the snow skateboard, switched to a longer and more controllable skateboard, and in 1978, together with Chuck Barfoot, he opened a manufactory. Currently, Sims Snowboards as well as Burton Boards are among the most important manufacturers of snowboard equipment.
1975 The marker introduces a fastening system for the front of the boot - M4, and the back - M44 (box).
1985 Metal edges appear on Burton and Sims snowboards. The era of snorfing influence is coming to an end, and manufacturing technology is becoming more and more like a ski. Also created is the first freestyle board (Sims) and a carving board (Gnu), where you turn by applying edge pressure rather than sliding.
1989 Volant introduces the first ever steel skis.
1990 In the early 90s, Kneisl and Elan produced prototypes of production skis with a narrow waist. They were a great success, and other companies based their projects in the following seasons on this idea. The SCX Elana and Ergo Kneissl ushered in the era of deep cut carving skis.
