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Different geometry at skis for backcountry skiing (top), allmountain skis and piste skis for carve turns.. Ski geometry is the shape of the ski.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.
A carved turn is a skiing and snowboarding term for the technique of turning by shifting the ski or snowboard onto its edges. When edged, the sidecut geometry causes the ski (in the following, snowboard is implicit and not mentioned) to bend into an arc, and the ski naturally follows this arc shape to produce a turning motion.
Technique has evolved along with ski technology and ski geometry. Early techniques included the telemark turn, the stem , the stem Christie , snowplough , and parallel turn . New parabolic designs like the Elan SCX have enabled the more modern carve turn .
The word ski comes from the Old Norse word skíð which means "cleft wood", [1] "stick of wood" or "ski". [2] In Old Norse common phrases describing skiing were fara á skíðum (to travel, move fast on skis), renna (to move swiftly) and skríða á skíðum (to stride on skis). [3]
The shape and construction material of a ski can also greatly impact the forces acting on a skier. [1] Skis designed for use in powder condition are very different from skis designed for use on groomed trails. These design differences can be attributed to the differences in the snow quality.
The geometry of a back country ski depends on its purpose—skis suited for forested areas where loose powder can predominate may be shorter and wider than those selected for open, exposed areas where compacted snow may prevail. Sidecut on Telemark skis promotes turning in forest and rugged terrain.
Malachi Luis Garcia survived two nights in the freezing San Gabriel Mountains after losing track of his friends while snowboarding at Mountain High Resort.
The SCX, for "SideCut eXtreme" (or "eXperiment"), was an alpine ski introduced by Elan in the winter of 1993/4. Skis before the SCX had almost always used a shape that was slightly curved inward on the sides, typically by 7 millimetres (0.28 in) compared to a straight line running from tip to tail.