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  • Skiing

Distinguer l’innovation de la fiction / Innovation vs. Imagination

  • December 18, 2020
  • Ned Morgan
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SoothSki, the world’s most advanced ski-rating system, is already helping choose your new sticks. Read more about this Quebec-made innovation. Mots :: Jean-Luc Brassard.

Des premiers skis de bois norvégiens aux skis en matériaux composites inventés par Howard Head en 1949, les skis alpins ont bien évolué. Nous avons tendance à penser que la pléiade de nouveaux matériaux et designs va automatiquement nous transformer en Mikaela Shiffrin ou Marcel Hirscher. Mais comment savoir si ces innovations claironnées par les fabricants sont vraiment efficaces ?

Comme il est quasi impossible d’essayer tous les skis et que les tests annuels publiés par les magazines peuvent varier d’un skieur à l’autre, on y perd facilement ses repères. Les vendeurs en magasin sont bien sûr d’excellentes sources d’information. Or, celles-ci proviennent directement des fabricants. Difficile d’envisager de couper un ski pour savoir ce qui en est vraiment, ainsi que son comportement sur neige.

 

Distinguer-linnovation-de-la-fiction-Innovation-vs-Imagination-Birkebeinerne_ski01
Les skis ont fait du chemin depuis leur apparition dans la légende des Birkebeiner, selon laquelle deux guerriers sur skis auraient transporté en lieux sûrs le jeune prince Haakon, futur roi de Norvège, en 1206. / Skis have come a long way since appearing in the Birkebeiner legend, according to which two warriors on skis carried the future king of Norway, young prince Haakon, to safety in 1206. (Knud Bergslien) WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

 

Les deux passionnés de glisse, Alexis Lussier Desbiens, professeur de génie mécanique de l’Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS) et titulaire d’un doctorat à l’Université Stanford, et Marius Bulota, ingénieur et moniteur de ski certifié de niveau 3, détiennent possiblement la solution. Ils ont créé SoothSki.com, un site dédié aux analyses de données et paramètres de plus de 1 300 skis alpins de différents modèles et longueurs.

Avec l’aide de ses étudiants de l’UdeS, Lussier Desbiens a mis au point une machine portative qui mesure tous les comportements des skis. Les résultats mettent en lumière l’efficacité des matériaux, le flex, la torsion, la rigidité, le poids et les courbes de rayon mathématiquement obtenues par les lignes de cotes – définies par la largeur du ski à la spatule, au patin et au talon.

Le procédé est somme toute simple, mais encore fallait-il le mettre au point. Le ski est déposé horizontalement sur un gabarit rigide, coincé aux extrémités pour l’empêcher de bouger. Des forces, homogènes d’un test à l’autre, sont appliquées pour mesurer la réaction des skis. Le tout est immédiatement analysé sur ordinateur et illustré de façon graphique pour livrer les secrets de l’assemblage invisible et du comportement prévu du ski.

Les surprises sont parfois spectaculaires. Par exemple, sûrement vous souvenez-vous des skis qui devaient annuler les vibrations causées notamment par la vitesse. Les tests de SoothSki effectués sur ces modèles démontrent que l’efficacité dudit gadget tient davantage du marketing que de l’innovation.

 

 

Bien sûr, comme chaque skieur est différent, le but n’est pas de glorifier un ski aux dépens d’un autre, mais de permettre aux usagers de faire un choix éclairé basé sur les comportements qu’ils recherchent.
Pour éviter qu’un ski soit dopé lors du test, puis dénudé d’attributs importants lors de la mise en marché, les skis analysés par SoothSki proviennent directement des étalages de magasins. Les résultats sont partagés immédiatement avec les vendeurs qui se régalent de telles informations.

Passionné de glisse – on gage que votre expérience en montagne sera améliorée par cet outil créé par des gens d’ici et qui attire la curiosité de la planète ski entière.

* * *

From the first pair of wooden skis made in Norway to the composites invented by Howard Head in 1949, downhill skis have come a long way. We tend to think that the latest and greatest materials and designs will automatically turn us into the next Mikaela Shiffrin or Marcel Hirscher. But how do we know if the innovations are all they’re cracked up to be?

Seeing as it is impossible to test-run every pair of skis, and annual reviews published by different magazines can vary in relevance from one skier to the next, it is hard to know what to think. In-store sales staff can be helpful but they get their information directly from the manufacturers. You can’t exactly cut open a ski to find out what’s hidden inside or what level of performance it will deliver once you hit the slopes.

 

Distinguer-linnovation-de-la-fiction-Innovation-vs-Imagination-the-soothski
La machine portative de SoothSki voyage d’un détaillant de ski à l’autre du Québec. Ici, chez Ski Michel, à Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. / SoothSki’s portable machine travels among Quebec ski shops. Here it is at Ski Michel, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. Photo: MARIUS BULOTA

 

Ski fanatics Alexis Lussier Desbiens, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS) and Masters graduate of Stanford University, and Marius Bulota, engineer and level 3ski instructor, may have just cracked the case. They created SoothSki.com, a website dedicated to publishing data analyses and specs on more than 1,300 downhill skis of various models and lengths.

With the help of his students from UdeS, Lussier Desbiens created a portable machine that tests the performance of just about any ski. The findings bring to light the strength of the ski’s materials, flex, torsion, rigidity, weight and turn radius. The latter is determined by the sidecut (calculated using the width at the tip, the tail and the waist of the ski).

The process is pretty straightforward. The ski is placed horizontally on a rigid jig and held on each end by clamps that keep it from moving. An equal amount of force from one test to another is applied to the ski to see how it reacts. The data is analyzed on a computer and turned into a graph to reveal the inner workings and expected performance of the ski.

These tests can reveal some shocking truths. For example, you may remember a ski touted to eliminate vibrations caused by high speeds and tough terrain. The SoothSki tests done on this ski concluded that the built-in gadget was more of a marketing ploy than the next big innovation.
Given that every skier is different, the goal isn’t to put one ski against another but to allow users to make an informed decision based on the kind of performance they’re looking for.

To avoid revealing anything that could potentially give away a ski’s selling features before it actually hits the market, the skis that SoothSki test come directly from store shelves. The results are immediately shared with vendors eager to get their hands on this kind of valuable information.

Our bet is your on-mountain experience will improve—thanks to this Quebec-made invention that is taking the skiing world by storm.

From the new issue of Vie en Montagne.

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  • Quebec
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Ned Morgan

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No one called me Feet Banks back in 1987. In those days, most people called me by my given name—except for my ski buddies, to whom I was known by the most badass moniker to ever schuss the slopes: Twinkle Toes.
We’re celebrating 20 Years of Mountain Life!
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
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