You can now ski faster and stronger with far more confidence all the while carving on snow like you never thought possible. If you have skied for more than ten years you will no doubt understand the limitations you felt sliding down the hill on old straight skis. Shaped skis have not only rejuvenated the sport of skiing but enabled every skier to see and feel what is possible on snow.
Skiing is back as one of the world’s major growth sports. For more than a decade there has been an endless stream of ideas from ski designers on how to best improve the performance, quality and price of skis.

Any $399 beginner shaped ski will out perform its $799 advanced counterpart of 15 years ago. Skis are able to have more shape and be much softer, while maintaining torsional rigidity or stability. The use of composite materials is the greatest factor in new ski construction.
Carbon, a material used in ski construction allows skis to be lighter, stronger, more responsive and most importantly far more stable on edge.
Fischer is the world’s leader in high end carbon products, producing the carbon parts for Audi, Porsche, Boeing and Airbus. Engine cowlings for Airbus, the world’s lightest water ski and more than a million of the worlds highest end composite hockey sticks come from the Fischer factory. Fischer is the largest ski manufacturer in the world, both Alpine and Cross Country.
Other ski manufacturers are trying to reinvent the wheel that was the first shaped skis.

Some ski companies are now producing skis that will change their turn radius or flex simply with a quick manual adjustment. With all of these ideas vying for your attention, Fischer is taking a step back and reintroducing the tried ant true.

Thirty years ago, 1978, Franz Klammer dominated the downhill circuit with 5 World Cup titles and he would be joined on the podium with some of the greatest Canadian ski racers - Ken Read, Steve Podborski, Dave Murray and Dave Irwin, “The Crazy Canucks”. The common denominator with all was they all had Fischer Racing Cut skis with “holes” in the tips. Fischer Racing Cut later to become the RC4, was the greatest race ski ever made.

Thirty years later, 2008, Fischer has reintroduced the “hole” to its RC4’s and as a result has become the number one ski brand on the Men’s World Cup. With all the technology available how could this old idea work? The way modern race skis work makes this old technology even more beneficial. The hole is primarily designed to reduce up to 25% of vibration created during high speed skiing which allows it to hold better with increased inertia. Plus by reducing the mass at the tip and with an oval cut out at the tail it also greatly reduces the swing weight and helps to make these the lightest race skis.

Boots: Fischer has also been able to dominate the Men’s World Cup circuit with another innovative product, the Soma Tec ski boot. If you stand up straight and look down, your feet are in a “V” position. Soma Tec is a technology that allows you to be in this natural “V” position while on skis, significantly increasing power, grip and control, plus reducing stress. No other brand of ski boots has been catapulted to the top of the podium in such a short period of time lending credibility to its design at every level.

In 1934 Josef Fischer Junior produced his first ski in his father’s factory and is still at the head of the only family run ski brand in the world today. He has been able to watch his brand at the forefront of technology and design in not only skiing but the automotive, aviation, tennis and hockey industries. Utilizing the new technologies they provide to push the limits of what is possible with skiing while never forgetting some of the older ideas that helped make it number one.

After years of hearing “ Twintips are going to change the ski industry”, The gurus might actually be right this time. Slowly but surely, more and more twintips are making their way to the mainstream ski market. From big mountain to little groms, more twintips are being bought.
Twintips now come in all shapes and sizes. Some are all mountain utility tools with waist widths as wide as 110 + mm’s! But theses skis still have decent turn radiuses that allow the skier to carve up the mountain as easy as a Thanksgiving turkey. There is also a great new crop of twintips for the starting out Jr. skier. They offer a cool factor that rivals the coolest snowboards. Now youngsters have options when they want to express their own personal style. There are new Jr. freeride boots to match this wave as well. The new ‘Kiera’ and ‘Kaid’ boots by Salomon, offer a two buckle freeride boots for the new generation of skiers.
The reason for the expansion of twin tips is twofold. First, they are incredibly fun to ski on. They offer an easy platform to handle the entire hill (or mountain). More and more ‘average’ skiers are switching to them, because of their ability to switch effortlessly from hardpack conditions to soft snow. With varying waist widths and turn radiuses, there is an option out there for every skier. It doesn’t hurt that they have some of the coolest graphics on the market on them either.
Secondly, ski makers have finally got it right. The quality and construction has been revolutionized and the prices have come down to where the intended market can actually afford them. This year, have an open mind and take a second look at the different options of skis, who knows, you might just be a twintipper.

At Skiis & biikes we Carry Skis from

Dynastar, Rossignol, Atomic, Salomon, Fischer, Liberty, Volkl, Nordica and Roxy

2010 Ski Reviews by Skiis & Biikes Staff -->