My most recent purchase was a pair of downhill skis, with the supposed intent of saving money on rentals. We’ll see how that goes.

This particular pair is a set of Fischer Pro Mountain Fire Skis, and bears the Fisher triangle logo at the top, as well as the phrase “Pro MT Fire” at the top and bottom, with a green stripe design printed onto a black plastic surface.

The skis stand 5’5” tall, and taper from a width of 4.5” thick at the top to 3” at the center, back to 4.5” at the bottom, giving them a sort of lanky hourglass shape when looked at head on. At this angle, the tips bend toward the viewer, then curves up slightly again at the center such that it is pressed into the snow by its user’s weight. This type of curve is called a rocker, and both prevents the ski from catching on small elevation changes, while limiting how much the skier’s boot presses into the snow, allowing a smoother glide.

Looking from the side of the skis, they are about half an inch thick , and the center separation due to the rocker is brought into closer view. The bindings that I installed myself are also visible, though they are really separate pieces fitted onto the skis rather than parts of the skis themselves. At the edge of the skis where the black plastic cover ends, a thin strip of steel can just be made out, bolted onto the ski to protect the less durable materials from wear. Taking this off would allow the removal of the outer plastic, and reveal the contents of each ski. I like my skis, so I’ll make do with images provided by ski manufacturers instead.

From Fischer’s image above, the yellow center material is wood. This wood core is assembled from long strips of a hard wood like birch ash, or maple (Ski Construction). This gives the ski strength, while allowing it to flex along the long axis created by the wood. Around the wood, in grey, is a fine layer fiber glass, both waterproofing the ski and binding the wood tightly in place. From there, the black top and bottom layers are added to ski on. The image below shows these outer layers in more detail.

From the above, the blue layer at the top is the plastic that covers the top of the ski, while the bottom layer is now more visible, along with the metal strips that line the bottom edges. This black material is polyethylene plastic of various concentration (Ski Construction). This adheres nicely to wax, which is what provides low enough friction to glide on the snow.

The polyethylene layer completes the ski and is clearly visible in its almost pitch dark black, however, it has a sheen provided by the layers of wax on it. In this particular picture, some grooves are evident in the wax; wear that comes naturally with use over a long period, and in this case has appeared in short order from ill-fated off trail adventures.

Fischer is mainly recognized as a nordic ski company, and brand recognition from using them in the past probably contributed to my decision to buy my downhill skis from them as well. Fischer skis are made in their factory location in Innkreis, Austria (About Fischer), and this particular pair shipped overseas to an Amazon warehouse in Pennsylvania before arriving at my doorstep this December.

Quite a lot of materials go in to making a pair of skis, and thinking about where the wood, glass, wax, metal and plastic were made and then shipped to Austria for assembly really does give me a new perspective on both the amount of effort that went into making them, and how many different places the money I spent on them ended up. Perhaps next time I’ll think twice about chopping them up on the glade terrain.

Works Cited

Fischer. “Fischer Pro MTN Fire Skis w/RS 9 GW Bindings Mens .”   Amazon, Amazon, 2019, http://www.amazon.com/Fischer-Fire-Skis-Bindings- 160cm/dp/B07HH2DJJZ/ref=sr_1_138?s=outdoor-recreation&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1544410428&sr=1-138&refinements=p_85:2470955011,p_36:20000-50000&th=1&psc=1.

“Ski Construction.” Ski Construction – Ski Equipment – Mechanics of Skiing, Mechanics of Sport, http://www.mechanicsofsport.com/skiing/equipment/skis/ski_construction.html.

Fischer Sports. (2019). About Fischer. [online] Available at: https://www.fischersports.com/us_en/explore/company/about-fischer [Accessed 4 Mar. 2019].