The only true way to determine the effectiveness of the jib focused ski was to actually ride them on the snow, and ride them hard. After pulling the skis from the vacuum press, trimming the excess material, and giving the skis a good base grind and tune, they were ready to test on the snow. Rory and Brett took the skis up to Snowbird to ride them. Multiple laps were made in the park and on the rest of the mountain to evaluate the performance of the skis. From this on snow testing much information about the performance of the prototypes was revealed.

The first pair of prototypes (steel reinforcement) was noticeably stiffer than the second pair, most likely due to the heavier weight fiberglass used. The second pair (diverted edge and steel reinforcement) of prototypes had much less camber than the first prototypes, probably due to inadequate curing time in the press. Also on the second prototype small transverse cracks were seen at the interface of the honeycomb and the wood on the tips of both skis, which may have also contributed to the camber loss. After about five runs the tip on one of the second prototypes fully fractured and delaminated at the honeycomb/ wood interface. After examining the failure it was deemed to be caused by inadequate bonding between the honeycomb and the rest of the core.

The few runs that were taken revealed many good traits about the prototypes. The second prototype pair with the diverted edge was buttery smooth on jibs, and although the lack of edge underfoot was slightly noticeable on the hardpack, they performed very well overall, especially considering their stellar jibbing performance. The first pair of prototypes compared relatively similar to a baseline park ski (K2 Seth Pistol), in flex and jibbing performance. One would suspect that this prototype would be quite a bit more durable in the long run due to the steel plate reinforcement as seen in the results of the previously performed impact tests displayed in the Appendix of the final report.

Diverted Edge and Steel Reinforcement Design

Steel Reinforcement Design