Praxis Waves to the Future - Prototype Spotted in the Wild

[Sinecure]

Bumped into Keith this weekend at the top of Keyhole. He was field testing some new skis. Rockered? Yes. Camber? Yes. Reverse Camber? Yes. The bases are wavy. Sort of like a magna traction edge, only applied to the base. And no, they didn't have wavy sidecut.

The man himself about to drop in and test them out:



They looked like they performed well on his run. He skied it better than I did.

Side-on view of the profile:



Yes, I checked with Keith to make sure he was OK with me posting this before I created this thread.

[butterscotch]

Curious as to the proposed benefits of such a camber profile. I can't really think of any.

[carl2782]

x2 on curiosity. Anyone?

[freak]

ive heard rossignol tried to achieve something like that on this seasons s6. they wanted to call it "the M rocker" but somthing went wrong with the final quality control, thats why most s6 have the U-rocker thing...

freak~[&]

[toast2266]

interesting. Maybe increased smear-ability while retaining better edge hold than flat or reverse camber?

He needs to combine it with those Elan waveflex things.

[butterscotch]

ok, i could see that. i was thinking that camber profile ought to act a lot like magnetraction when it's on edge.

[nickwm21]

Nothing better than skiing keyhole on prototypes

[Lachnload]

i could see this being used for popping off the nose or tail when hitting any type of park jump or cliff

[unpossible]

We (myself and Dookey) ran into Keith closing weekend at AM last year and heard about these.

[sqikunst]

I am a big praxis fan got protests and pow boards but just thinking about how skis travel through snow I cant see a benefit or con to the design. Most people would think that deep snow is a bit like water in the way it moves and planes, the only thing I could think of was maybe it creates turbulence between the base and the layer it is sliding on. Sort of like windsurf freestyle boards they make them inherently unstable and then give them short fins because without the instability they would not be able to do the rotations and nose spins and what not. Some snow boards have an M camber profile I don't get it but maybe someone does and can then elaborate. This might sound stupid but after all the different new dimensions and camber profiles it would be cool to see a ski company make a ski where the good qualities of a ski are not = Rail, super float, light. It sounds retarded but giving a ski more instability could make it more fun. Instability is the wrong way of putting it, Pow boards can turn on a dime but in wind blown it can slarve like crazy with out dumping all your speed if you don't want to.

Instability = Fun as long as its not fall = dead

[markb]

Most people would think that deep snow is a bit like water in the way it moves and planes, the only thing I could think of was maybe it creates turbulence between the base and the layer it is sliding on.

Whitewater kayak designs in the late 90s tried to create a buffering layer of turbulent flow between the boat and the laminar flow to reduce friction. This was with the move to more aerial wave-based moves. Riot especially was putting spin disks of grids on the bottoms of their boats, and then chines for release, to break into planing.

Release is still an issue, but generally water is too turbulent to detect these slight changes, and it's more just about the overall hull shape.

I assume snow would behave with less turbulence than whitewater.

[LightRanger]

ive heard rossignol tried to achieve something like that on this seasons s6. they wanted to call it "the M rocker" but somthing went wrong with the final quality control, thats why most s6 have the U-rocker thing...

That would make sense re: the quality issue.

The great thing about Praxis is...

If not *the* best, certainly one of the best build qualities in the industry.

Curious as to the theory behind the waves.

[jmars]

Fins!! We now need FINS!!!

Cool idea and I guess its on the same idea as possible CamRock and FlyingV (snowboard rocker camber hybrids)

Love to hear more about this.

[Tye 1on]

Riot especially was putting spin disks of grids on the bottoms of their boats, and then chines for release, to break into planing.

Ha! Good memory, long live the Disco!

Fins!! We now need FINS!!!

Ha! Good memory, long live the Trickster!

[legallyillegal]

i didn't know inca made skis

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

That would make sense re: the quality issue.

The great thing about Praxis is...

If not *the* best, certainly one of the best build qualities in the industry.

Curious as to the theory behind the waves.

For the truth. Keith's skis are bomber. Awesome dude - awesome skis. Love my Protests (fav ski every) and Backcountrys.

[fat yeti]

I know he is going to put this profile on some of the next batch of concepts now I need to decide with or with out the new camber profile. Keith swears by and says its great...

[Maker]

I am guessing the goal is to replicate the effect of dimples on golf balls and dimpled boat hulls....

Dimpled boat hull - The application of dimples in the hull surface is supposed to act like the dimples on a golf ball. It will make the hull more aquadynamic, and move the boat faster over the water with less horse power.

[rideit]

i didn't know inca made skis

JUST what I was gonna post!
Did you ever ride an Inca? Hardpack shredders, decent powboards.
(circa 1999, I believe)

[JHoback]

Can't wait to see the finished product. Also, can't wait to try out some Praxis boards. Anyone ski the Concept's?

[alto]

Concepts are amazing, they do what they're supposed to. Carve and slarve, its nuts!

Regarding the new camber profiles, I think you'll get the same best-of-both-worlds benefits, but on the y-axis instead. It will pop when you need it to, like a fully cambered ski, but also ride over the top of stuff with minimal feedback like a good reverse camber/rockered ski.

Keith also mentioned that it would create a similar affect as the concept (magne) edges - since there are certain points along the length of the ski where pressure will be greater than with a regular non-wavy edge where pressure is evenly distributed, it will create more grip. Serrated knife cutting a loaf of bread versus a straight edge.

[brutah]

sounds awesome! i love praxis skis!

[Lachnload]

Keith also mentioned that it would create a similar affect as the concept (magne) edges - since there are certain points along the length of the ski where pressure will be greater than with a regular non-wavy edge where pressure is evenly distributed, it will create more grip. Serrated knife cutting a loaf of bread versus a straight edge.

I would have to disagree that this would create more grip for a ski. I could see that principle working on a snowboard as shown in rideits diagram where each foot is towards the center point of each camber profile. The point of camber is to help more evenly distribute the force across the contact length. I would think that if the skis are mounted near the midpoint of the two camber profiles that it will act more like a ski that is flat underfoot and not distribute the weight as much (create less grip) towards the nose and tail. Maybe some smarty pants on these boards could verify that.

I do agree that it will create more pop though and act similar to a reverse camber/rockered ski in the nose.

[Jim S]

Keith told me he's work on something that's unlike any other ski ....ever.

[splat]

Endless props to Keith for thinking outside the bun. And I quite fully agree that his build quality is top shelf.
And he's a cool guy

Who drives the industry? Guys like him.