Ski

In Swedish, another language evolved from Old Norse, the word is skidor (plural, pronounced [ˈɧîːdʊr]; singular: skida).

In Dutch, the word is ski and the pronunciation was originally [ˈɕiː] as in Norwegian, but since approximately the 1960s changed to [ˈskiː].

The word suksi goes back to the Proto-Uralic period, with cognates such as Erzya soks, Mansi tåut and Nganasan tuta.

[15] These early skis were not designed for recreation or speed; their sole purpose was to keep the user on top of the snow, as when hunting or at war.

Nordic ski technology was adapted during the early 20th century to enable skiers to turn at higher speeds.

[18] The seal hunters at the Gulf of Bothnia had developed a special long ski to sneak into shooting distance to the seals' breathing holes, though the ski was useful in moving in the packed ice in general and was made specially long, 3–4 meters, to protect against cracks in the ice.

Earlier plank-style skis had to be thick enough not to bow downward and sink in the snow under the skier's weight.

[20] The design also included a sidecut that narrowed the ski underfoot while the tip and tail remained wider.

These woods were used because of their density and ability to handle speed and shock-resistance factors associated with ski racing.

Because Europe's forests were dwindling, finding quality plank hardwood became difficult, which led to the invention of the laminated ski.

[21] Beginning in 1891, skimakers in Norway began laminating two or more layers of wood together to make lighter cross country running skis.

In 1933, a new design technology was introduced with an outer hardwood shell completely encasing an inner layer of lighter wood, successfully eliminating spontaneously splitting glue lines.

This early design eventually evolved into an advanced laminating technique which is referred to today as single-shell casing technology.

The design included steel edges (invented in 1928 in Austria,[20]) and the exterior surfaces were made of phenol formaldehyde resin which could hold wax.

For many years, alpine skis were shaped similarly to cross-country, simply shorter and wider, but the Elan SCX introduced a radial sidecut design that dramatically improved performance.

Other companies quickly followed suit, one Austrian ski designer admitting, "It turns out that everything we thought we knew for forty years was wrong.

[27][29] Described in the direction of travel, the front of the ski, typically pointed or rounded, is the tip, the middle is the waist and the rear is the tail.

Over time, materials for both the core and torsion box have changed, with wood, various plastic foams, fibreglass, kevlar and carbon fiber all being used in different designs.

Introduced in 1989, the Volant skis proved expensive to produce, and in spite of numerous positive reviews, the company never became profitable.

In 1990, the Salomon S9000 took the same basic concept but replaced the steel with plastics, producing a design they called "monocoque".

Now referred to as the "cap ski" design, the concept eliminates the need to wrap the core and replaces this with a single-step process that is much less expensive to produce.

The classical wooden ski consists of a single long piece of suitable wood that is hand-carved to the required shape.

Over time the designs changed, and skis were thinned out to the sides, or had prominent ridges down the center.

[41] Ski maintenance encompasses four facets: binding adjustments, waxing, edge shaping, and base repair.