The Information of the Internet...Camber & Aerodynamics!

[Bob Barnes]

OK, so it's my first day out of my ski boots in nearly a month, and I thought I'd skim the Internet to see what's new in the world of skiing understanding. How 'bout a little history of ski design (and predictions for the future)...that could be interesting!

"In 1850, woodcarvers invented the cambered ski, a template for skis as we know them today. Bow-shaped, they had arches towards the center, making them more aerodynamic." (BraveSkiMom)

Aerodynamics! That's what camber is for...who knew? Well, I guess the author of the article knew, eh?

And just about immediately, my search for new learning on the WorldWideWeb was squelched before it had hardly started. DO NOT believe anything you read on the Internet! Question everything. Challenge, experiment, test, explore, and seek Understanding, because knowledge alone is worth nothing at all. You can "know" anything, true or false. Now we know that camber was developed to improve the aerodynamics of skis. As Benjamin Bloom pointed out in his Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain, "knowledge" is only the very lowest rung on the ladder of cognitive activity. It does not require any level of mental processing beyond rote memorization. No need for comprehension. It might be right, it might be wrong.

And so it is, with so many things. Just sayin'!

Bend ze knees. Get forward. Crush your boots. Engage your ski tips so they pull you into the new turn. Turns are for speed control. There is no such thing as Centrifugal Force. Never incline (or worse, inclinate) ....

I hope everyone is having a great season. We certainly are here in Colorado! (But don't just take my word for it--I could be wrong. Come on out and test it for yourself!) ;-)

Best regards,
Bob

 

[LiquidFeet]

Welcome back, @Bob Barnes. Visit more often!

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

I know a guy who wrote an encyclopedia about skiing...

 

[CalG]

OK, so it's my first day out of my ski boots in nearly a month, and I thought I'd skim the Internet to see what's new in the world of skiing understanding. How 'bout a little history of ski design (and predictions for the future)...that could be interesting!

"In 1850, woodcarvers invented the cambered ski, a template for skis as we know them today. Bow-shaped, they had arches towards the center, making them more aerodynamic." (BraveSkiMom)

Aerodynamics! That's what camber is for...who knew? Well, I guess the author of the article knew, eh?

And just about immediately, my search for new learning on the WorldWideWeb was squelched before it had hardly started. DO NOT believe anything you read on the Internet! Question everything. Challenge, experiment, test, explore, and seek Understanding, because knowledge alone is worth nothing at all. You can "know" anything, true or false. Now we know that camber was developed to improve the aerodynamics of skis. As Benjamin Bloom pointed out in his Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain, "knowledge" is only the very lowest rung on the ladder of cognitive activity. It does not require any level of mental processing beyond rote memorization. No need for comprehension. It might be right, it might be wrong.

And so it is, with so many things. Just sayin'!

Bend ze knees. Get forward. Crush your boots. Engage your ski tips so they pull you into the new turn. Turns are for speed control. There is no such thing as Centrifugal Force. Never incline (or worse, inclinate) ....

I hope everyone is having a great season. We certainly are here in Colorado! (But don't just take my word for it--I could be wrong. Come on out and test it for yourself!) ;-)

Best regards,
Bob

And all this time I thought skis were cambered so we didn't have to be walking up hill all the time. The ski tips would push the snow down in front of us, and away we would fly.

 

[JohnnyG]

So camber is downforce and fast, where rocker makes you fly?

 

[raytseng]

I believe I rode a chair with you at Highlands, but you were in the middle of a lesson (and in the middle of jokes) so I didn't want to interrupt to do a pro-instructor callout.

 

[ScottA]

That's funny - I literally just read your encyclopedia thingy from top to bottom yesterday (I recommend it as an excellent resource for procrastination when one should be working)

https://web.archive.org/web/2017050...ncyclopedia-of-skiing-epicski-skiing-glossary

 

[cantunamunch]

That's funny - I literally just read your encyclopedia thingy from top to bottom yesterday (I recommend it as an excellent resource for procrastination when one should be working)

https://web.archive.org/web/2017050...ncyclopedia-of-skiing-epicski-skiing-glossary

and what from it do you intend to experiment with?

 

[ScottA]

and what from it do you intend to experiment with?

Mastering Reuel Christies

Just jokes, for me it was a great to read up about lots of ski terms I had heard but didn't really quite understand. Spent a lot of time googling bits and pieces as I worked my way down the list.

 

[KingGrump]

That's funny - I literally just read your encyclopedia thingy from top to bottom yesterday (I recommend it as an excellent resource for procrastination when one should be working)

https://web.archive.org/web/2017050...ncyclopedia-of-skiing-epicski-skiing-glossary

Your link is a very abbreviated version of the actual EoS.

 

[Steve]

OK, so it's my first day out of my ski boots in nearly a month, and I thought I'd skim the Internet to see what's new in the world of skiing understanding. How 'bout a little history of ski design (and predictions for the future)...that could be interesting!

"In 1850, woodcarvers invented the cambered ski, a template for skis as we know them today. Bow-shaped, they had arches towards the center, making them more aerodynamic." (BraveSkiMom)

Aerodynamics! That's what camber is for...who knew? Well, I guess the author of the article knew, eh?

And just about immediately, my search for new learning on the WorldWideWeb was squelched before it had hardly started. DO NOT believe anything you read on the Internet! Question everything. Challenge, experiment, test, explore, and seek Understanding, because knowledge alone is worth nothing at all. You can "know" anything, true or false. Now we know that camber was developed to improve the aerodynamics of skis. As Benjamin Bloom pointed out in his Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain, "knowledge" is only the very lowest rung on the ladder of cognitive activity. It does not require any level of mental processing beyond rote memorization. No need for comprehension. It might be right, it might be wrong.

And so it is, with so many things. Just sayin'!

Bend ze knees. Get forward. Crush your boots. Engage your ski tips so they pull you into the new turn. Turns are for speed control. There is no such thing as Centrifugal Force. Never incline (or worse, inclinate) ....

I hope everyone is having a great season. We certainly are here in Colorado! (But don't just take my word for it--I could be wrong. Come on out and test it for yourself!) ;-)

Best regards,
Bob

Excellent post Bob, and great to see you!

I've always seen a difference between people who knew everything and people who could think quickly. The former is more normally seen as a smart person, as they can answer most questions from memory.

I always thought of it as storage space vs. processing power. I like using the word "knowledge" for this.

But what of one of my favorite sayings that "knowledge is power"?

 

[François Pugh]

Knowledge is power, but power is nothing without control.

 

[Steve]

Knowledge is power, but power is dangerous without understanding.

FIFY

 

[Carl Kuck]

Did you know twin tips were invented by the Norwegians "way back when" so if you were being chased through the woods by bears and/or wolves and a tip broke you could flip the skis around and be on your way? This from the Holmenkollen museum (https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=496475) where they had a pair of twin tips that were several hundred years old! I'd highly recommend visiting the museum if you're even in Oslo...

 

[James]

Well, at the Aspen Gathering a few years ago I demoed some skis at the Aspen Highlands shop. You could try 3-4 in a day I think. The first pair I tried was a Blizzard cheater gs 178ish. The things had a base issue, would barely slide sideways.

I went in after a few hours to change skis. Debated even bothering to tell them, those conversations rarely go well. But taking my boot off for the next pair, I told the young guy that there was an issue with the base. They couldn't slide sideways. "They're not supposed to slide. They're meant to be on edge." I didn't really want to go into that, so I explained that the base was either edge high or concave. With "concave" I took the ski and showed with my hand what I meant. "Oh, you mean camber!" Sigh. Thankfully, the shop manager heard that and took over, explaining what camber was.

 

[Tony S]

"In 1850, woodcarvers invented the cambered ski, a template for skis as we know them today. Bow-shaped, they had arches towards the center, making them more aerodynamic." (BraveSkiMom)

I actually happened to meet Brave Ski Mom one day at Solitude. Seemed pretty sharp, and a good skier. Likely this was a passing brain fart of some kind. We all have them.

 

[geepers]

Did you know twin tips were invented by the Norwegians "way back when" so if you were being chased through the woods by bears and/or wolves and a tip broke you could flip the skis around and be on your way? This from the Holmenkollen museum (https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=496475) where they had a pair of twin tips that were several hundred years old! I'd highly recommend visiting the museum if you're even in Oslo...

So when you are being chased by bears/wolves there's time to stop and turn the ski around? Or is this move done on the go?

 

[James]

Did you know twin tips were invented by the Norwegians "way back when" so if you were being chased through the woods by bears and/or wolves and a tip broke you could flip the skis around and be on your way? This from the Holmenkollen museum (https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=496475) where they had a pair of twin tips that were several hundred years old! I'd highly recommend visiting the museum if you're even in Oslo...

Well years ago I visited the Science and technology museum in Paris. Pretty small museum. Well, noninevwrnt there anyway. All the technology was French of course. It was extremely surprising in the modern era section to have an Apple computer there. Apparently it warranted inclusion because a Frenchman, Jean Luc Gassée, was head of the European section of Apple.

I don't think who made the oldest skis has been settled. The Swedes claim it's them. Russians and Mongolians claim it too.

 

[Carl Kuck]

So when you are being chased by bears/wolves there's time to stop and turn the ski around? Or is this move done on the go?

Bear in mind (no pun intended) that we're talking about Vikings here...

 

[crgildart]

So I guess bears didn't hibernate during the winter way back in olden times. Whew, I'm sure glad that has changed. I guess they skied their twin tips with cans of bear spray taped to their poles too right?