Snowboard Construction

Gu Ailing, who is only 19 years old, has set a record and refreshed our understanding again. Swiss ski brand FACTION customized "Dragon of the Man" skis, adding a strong Chinese style to the champion.

for athletes, having a good snowboard is one of the important guarantees to achieve good results. So, what kind of evolutionary process has the material of skis gone through? What mysterious structures are contained in modern skis? What else can abandoned skis be used for? Let's follow the editor today to understand the mystery of skis ~

1. skiing in China

2005, a Xinjiang farmer discovered a cave about ski rock paintings in Dundeblak in the Altay region of Xinjiang-archaeologists speculate that it is the Late Paleolithic period from 1 to 30000 BC, which predates the remains of the Nordic region.

issued the "Altay Declaration" and "2015 Altay Declaration" in 2006 and 2015 respectively after four major discussion meetings.

declared that "human skiing originated from the Xinjiang Altay region of China", and the release of the "2015 Altay Declaration" marked that the claim that Xinjiang Altay was the earliest origin of human skiing was internationally recognized.

2. knowledge of snowboarding

skis are generally divided into alpine board, cross-country biathlon board, jumping board, freestyle board, veneer and so on. Ski snowboards are roughly divided into three types (all-round board, park board and mountain board), which map several ways of playing and terrain (swing, platform, U-groove, flat style, BOX, RAIL and mountain). The basic parameters of the snowboard are length, width, hardness, plate type, elasticity, effective side length and so on. The technical elements of snowboard are board core, board bottom, board surface, board blade, etc.

1. The earliest timber skis

In the early days of skiing, wood was the first choice for snowboard timber because of its low density, high strength, ability to make a variety of shapes, and ease of operation. In order to facilitate people's manipulation, the skis were thin and long at first, and there was a thicker piece of wood in the joint.

in the birthplace of human skiing-Ataylor, people still use fur skis, and fur skis are now the intangible cultural heritage of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Fur skis are simple in workmanship, mainly including wood selection, sawing, profiling, horse skin drying, nail skin and other steps. The skis are made of broken pieces of wood. In order to pursue the radian of the snowboard, the template should be wet with boiling water during production, and the mold should be put on the mold after the wood is soft. Once the skis are formed, the bottom of the skis is wrapped with fur from the horse's calf. Each process is strict, and the skis made to meet the requirements.

However, the fatal injury of wood is that it is easy to be affected with moisture and deformation, and the strength is relatively low under torsion. Therefore, the subsequent skis changed the traditional single-piece wooden structure, mixed with structural elements such as plastic board base, steel, edge and aluminum alloy, which greatly increased the strength, elasticity and stability of the board, and the length of the board body gradually became shorter.

2. Core material of snowboard

cross-country skiing is considered the most important part of skiing, because it is responsible for the strength and flexibility of skiing. This core, which used to be made of wood, is now built of various materials. With the introduction of metal in cross-country skiing, the material of the skis is now crucial. Ski manufacturers and enthusiasts are divided into two camps, one group prefers wood, such as many cross-country ski manufacturers still prefer wood as the inner core, and the other group chooses foam materials, such as XC ski manufacturers firmly support foam.

With wood as the core, cross-country ski manufacturers need extremely high precision while matching the quantity, type, style and cut of wood used in each pair of skis. In this way, the left and right skis can move in the same way at high speed. The wood core is made of laminated hardwood strips running along the length of the board. Fraxinus mandshurica, beech, poplar and ash trees are the most common woods in skis. But the wood core is not completely independent of the use, and sometimes need foam support. This is done in order to provide different areas of the ski with different strength, curvature and weight, resulting in different properties and features.

foam was first introduced as a core material in the 1970 s, and part of the wood core of modern skis is also being replaced by foam core. The foam-based inner core makes the skis lighter than similar products. In addition, the construction of foam-based cross-country skis is relatively easy because it can absorb different vibrations and help manufacturers design curves. Most foam cores are made of polyurethane, and the core made of honeycomb is lightweight and very strong. The foam core is easier to control during the manufacturing process and absorbs vibration better than wood. It has the added advantage of being cheaper than wood. The cost of these cross-country skis is therefore ultimately lower than skis with wood cores.

Despite the lightweight advantages of foam, with the emergence and replacement of more materials, some manufacturers no longer use foam as the main material because they are worried that the board will quickly lose its arch and be a bit soft, and the foam core will sometimes lose its elasticity. And the use of wood core can ensure smooth response and lively bending from the board. Although bubbles can still appear in some low-stress areas of the core to reduce weight, they may underestimate the invincible evolution of foam.

3.PMI Foam: Adding Value to High Performance Snowboards

in professional skateboards, foam is considered marginalized by some manufacturers. DPS does the opposite and introduces space-grade foam into the core layer of its new product Pagoda Tour series. The foam has incredible strength, energy and lighter weight, as well as excellent downhill performance. When sandwiched between two pre-impregnated carbon laminates and combined with a lot of paulownia and some ash, the result is a foam ski that is very lightweight, allowing you to be strong and confident when descending, but relatively light, allowing you to rise more pleasantly.

this aerospace-grade foam is a well-designed closed-cell rigid polymethacrylimide (PMI) foam. It has impeccable high mechanical properties: it has high specific strength and high specific modulus; its tensile, compression, bending and shear strength and modulus are far superior to other foam or light wood core, such as PVC, PU, PET, and is isotropic.

Compared with solid composite laminates alone, PMI foam sandwich composites have a higher strength-to-weight ratio and must be delivered quickly. This is a huge advantage of PMI foam sandwich panels over solid composite panels. The PMI bubble finally made the skis have to withstand the high dynamic pressure of this top competitive sport.

Many winter sports enthusiasts have rediscovered cross-country skiing, driving a new trend in winter sports. Over the years, cross-country skiing has become more and more popular, especially inspired by the success of top German athletes. Norwegian snowboard manufacturer Madshus has been using Evonik's ROHACELL high-performance PMI rigid foam as an integral part of its snowboard core.

4. Making Composites Win

While high performance foams are generally very expensive, they have a very unique combination of properties. When combined with wood, it can achieve the best of both worlds: skis are light in weight, but still maintain damping and innovative design, which in turn makes wood-core skis popular.

sandwich design is becoming increasingly important for modern sports equipment. Through the application of heat and pressure, high-strength PMI foam can be combined with all traditional plastics to form extremely durable composites.

a composite material with a cover layer made of CFRP or the like enables a high strength, rigid design and extremely light weight. These materials are very suitable for lightweight but durable sports equipment, such as cross-country skiing and downhill snowboards, racing wheels, rackets, hockey sticks, snowboards and surfboards.

5. Emphasis on the concept of environmental protection

In addition, in order to reduce the carbon emissions in the snowboard production process, increasing the content of bio-based materials and recycled materials has also been the key to the ski brand's sustainability commitment in recent years. For example, the Agent 4.0 POW series skis introduced in FACTION are made of bio-based resin and recyclable board materials.

3. on the reuse of skis

Signal

among the many brands of snowboarding, Signal may not be the most famous one or the most frequently listed Good Wood, but it has transcended the posture of a commercial brand and has created unprecedented success under the leadership of the company's founder Dave Lee. This is Signal's self-made video program ETT(Every Third Thursday), which is popular all over the snow circle.

, Signal, led by Dave Lee, turns into a mad scientist, burning his brain holes in the factory, and finally completes all kinds of skis that are difficult to copy: underwater, paper, glass, whiskey poured, old skateboards modified ...... and even inflatable skis! And they can all glide on snow.

let the birds of the city have a nest

Danish artist Thomas Dambo recycled wood boards, skis, sofas, lamps, tables and chairs and other wastes, all cut, spliced and colored by hand, creating a colorful bird house. In addition to promoting the concept of environmental protection, but also to let the birds flying in the sky have a place to stay

creative street signs

, in Ohio, USA, a company used old snowboards that were previously rented out, took off the holders and removed the front and back warps and front and back blades, turning them into street signs. To do this, they first fill the hole of the holder with epoxy and spray primer on the skis, then sand it again, using a paint spray gun to spray paint. They use vinyl to make letters, boxes and symbols. Finally, they are painted with a layer of gloss paint to protect the vinyl and paint on the board."

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