Help to identify a vintage pair of skis

[SailandSki84]

I picked up a vintage pair of skis at a Maine antique shop and am looking to identify the manufacturer and approximate year. They have Northland bindings and I can see part of the old logo on the tip of one ski. It looks like a triangle logo with an “RO” as two of the letters. Any help would be appreciated! I’m also hoping to refinish them. Any best practices?

 

[Gerry]

looks like TYROL to me...

 

[cantunamunch]

looks like TYROL to me...

Yup, you can sort of make out the elbow of the red shirted skier.

From Vintage ski world's online museum: https://www.vintageskiworld.com/vintage-ski-museum-s/45.htm

 

[Doug Briggs]

Tyrol would make sense.

These are probably late 30s to early/mid 40s. I'm just guessing based on the bindings. The 'sophistication' of the wing system and the referencing of length by feet and fractions seem to fit that time frame, IME.

What are your plans for them? Restoration? Leaving them as is? Mounting on a wall? Skiing them? Apart from the lack of finish (I am not certain whether they would just be oiled or perhaps varnished) they appear to be in very good condition. The (presumably) original leather straps are hard to come by and rarely present. Pictures of the bases would be nice. Do they have 'factory' screw on edges, retrofit ones, which was fairly common, or no edges at all?

 

[Doug Briggs]

Yup, you can sort of make out the elbow of the red shirted skier.

From Vintage ski world's online museum: https://www.vintageskiworld.com/vintage-ski-museum-s/45.htm

Nice research, @cantunamunch . You snaked me with your reply.

 

[SailandSki84]

Thank you! My hope was to oil or varnish depending on best practice and mount on the wall (I love doing the brightwork on my sailboat so was hoping to do something similar here). Two more photos included.

 

[Bad Bob]

Great find! Oil and vanish yes. Bright work on the bindings, . Doubt those Northland bindings ever had a high finish on them.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Those could be a little older than I suggested. Edges were not uncommon in the late 30s so skis without edges are probably older than mid 30s.

RUDOLF LETTNER AND THE STEEL EDGE

I have some older skis and they weren't varnished; they were oiled. Here are some photos of my 'best' wood skis.

The three pair that are dark appear to just be oiled. The lighter ones may have a very thin layer of varnish. Note that the ones that may be varnished aren't covered in thick glossy varnish like you'd see on a boat. You can click these images for a larger format.



The pair on the left in the first two photos are unmounted and have edges. The left pair in the last two pictures are 'used' and also have edges. The three dark pair have no edges. The very short skis were a friends when he was a kid and the ones with the leather strap and binding next to them were his mother's.

Others on the site may have more conclusive advise to offer. https://www.skiinghistory.org/ (which provided the article on edges) is a wealth of information. However you restore the skis, I'm sure they will be beautiful. Be very careful with the leather.

Thanks for preserving skiing history. If you have interest in other pieces, you may want to look at my post:
Lots of classic and vintage skis I have some old leather boots to pass along too, if you are interested. I've kept a lot of stuff out of the land fill and it is time to let someone else care for it.

(And whatever you do, don't drill holes into the skis to mount them. Somehow I don't think the thought even crossed your mind, though. )

 

[Laurel Hill Crazie]

Another interesting thing about the earliest steel edges I learned that in the pre-WW2 days skis were bought then had edges installed latter. It took a while for ski manufacturers to tool up and offer skis with steel edges. Even as late as the late 1980s you could get a pair of skis with segmented edges. Perhaps you still can today? The only set of skis I owned with segmented edges were K2 Unlimited VO

 

[Jilly]

I had a pair of Albergs that had screwed on edges....I still have tip after they and a tree had a mishap...

 

[Uncle-A]

I would not do anything but clean them with a dry cloth and when you mount them to the wall PLEASE do not drill holes through them.

 

[Uncle-A]

Another interesting thing about the earliest steel edges I learned that in the pre-WW2 days skis were bought then had edges installed latter. It took a while for ski manufacturers to tool up and offer skis with steel edges. Even as late as the late 1980s you could get a pair of skis with segmented edges. Perhaps you still can today? The only set of skis I owned with segmented edges were K2 Unlimited VO

Do you mean screw on edges? Because in the 1980's when I was selling skis I couldn't name one manufacturer that still used screw on edges. A few did make what was called a cracked edge ski or a variable length cracked edge ski but none were screw on edges.

 

[Laurel Hill Crazie]

Do you mean screw on edges? Because in the 1980's when I was selling skis I couldn't name one manufacturer that still used screw on edges. A few did make what was called a cracked edge ski or a variable length cracked edge ski but none were screw on edges.

They were not screwed on but cracked or segmented, I wasn't clear about that. My first pair of skis I owned in 1964 did have screw on edges with cable bindings and a releasable toe pieces if my memory serves me correctly. I cannot remember the manufacturer of the ski or binding.

 

[DanoT]

My first pair of skis I owned in 1964 did have screw on edges with cable bindings and a releasable toe pieces if my memory serves me correctly.

^^^This describes my first pair of skis (used 50s vintage), also in 1964 or '65. Mine had a bear trap toe piece with a race mode lever that allowed the binding to be locked in place with no toe release.

When I was a kid in the 50s my parents had their skis in the basement that they skied on in the mid 30s and early 40s. The edges where lignite hardwood and the binding was a U shaped bracket with a leather strap that went across the toe when the boot was slid in place. A second leather strap went from one side of the toe piece to around the back of the boot to the other side of the toe piece. Heel hold down consisted of putting weight on your heel while doing a Stem-Christe turn. I think the skis were late 20s vintage or maybe early 30s.

Me, I wouldn't restore an old pair of skis, just go with the original old battle scared patina.

 

[Bad Bob]

Ski manufacturers were making skis without metal edges well into the late 50's. I those days, kindergarten through 2nd grader, remember well "helping" my Dad plane out the bases for edges. Then drill and install edges with a yankee drill. Next came the bindings, mounted those ourselves too. Last but not least paint on the bases, the blue on the original pictures. The system was not precise, but neither was the equipment. Suspect companies like A&T or perhaps Northland made edgeless skis to fit a price point, No idea who the edges would have come from; as a 6 year old really didn't care. Do remember the first run with metal edges and thinking, I was going to like them. I did.

We lived in Lakewood, WA and would go up to Washington Hardware for their big annual Washington's Birthday Ski Sale to purchase our gear. They were as close as you would get to an EVO or REI back in the day.

 

[Doug Briggs]

The skis I posted images of are in the condition I received them. My friend's parents were meticulous Yankees and would have put the skis away in mint condition, ready for their next excursion.

These are the segmented or 'cracked' edges on my VR17s. The detail is there is you click the image to see if in its larger format.

 

[Gerry]

I would not do anything but clean them with a dry cloth and when you mount them to the wall PLEASE do not drill holes through them.

agreed, please don't drill them. I mounted an old wooden pair using some leather I trimmed off an old belt; used a thin strip of leather and screwed thru the leather to hold them up. looks pretty good.

 

[Laurel Hill Crazie]

Just a few pics of skis that have come to me from my mother's side of the family. They were my aunt's. my mother's older sister. They were both in Prague when Berlin fell in 1945. My aunt's husband was a German POW. Gustel and Erwin were married in 1936. This ski could date from that time.