Ski Flex Test 101

May 28, 2008

Admit it. You"™ve walked into a ski shop, admired a sweet pair of new boards, grabbed them off the wall, done the obligatory tough guy flex test (see photo), and emphatically proclaimed, "these are too soft for me."

Well, tough guy (or girl), you"™re doing it wrong.

In the following photo sequence, Daniel Tanzer, Kästle"™s product line manager, shows Hugo Harrison and his Whistler posses what"™s up.

The Wrong Way – Holding the tip and pushing into the center of the ski. Why? Because when flexing the whole ski you"™re really only bending the tail of the ski. Most skis have softer flexing tails to allow for a snappier ski.

The Right Way "“ Place the ski on a table and try to bend the ski between the contact area without the tip and tail. By isolating the shovel zone one can get a more accurate feel for the ski"™s flex and how the ski will perform in a turn.