Andrew's Hexcels are going to a new home - Whitey's roof. Thanks Andrew. Look for me cruizin' the streets of Chicago this summer trying to find a ski hill.
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Andrew's Hexcels are going to a new home - Whitey's roof. Thanks Andrew. Look for me cruizin' the streets of Chicago this summer trying to find a ski hill.
I started on 10th Mountain Division skis in '55. Currently on Volkl slalom skis (back room black sidewall race stock skis). My GS skis are Volkls as well (Jimmy Cochran's World Cup skis). It's so cool to hear that the K2 VO slaloms are recognized by youse guys; those 207cm 2x4s could cut through any ice, but you had to stomp on the bastards to make them turn. Now, the 165 race skis with 0 degree bottom bevel and 3 degree side bevel will cut glass by just rolling them onto the edge and standing on them. No sliding whatsoever, just pure clean carve on even the hardest blue/green ice. Sweet lateral G forces that are so much like carving the 911 around the twisties.
If anone has a pair of the above black and yellow VR17s, I'm looking. Or maybe period Kneissl White Stars, or Red Stars?!
There are some nice Red Stars on Ebay right now with Look Nevada/Grand Prix. They are in Western NJ outside Philadelphia and the seller won't ship. No bids @25 bucks.
Yeah, he's adamant about local pickup. This is nice! I wonder about heat in this car?!
Damn, Jens! What a cool photo :D
Has anyone switched back from today's modern short-skis to their old long boards just for grins? I haven't yet. Still remember the 1st time I tried so-called parabolic skis. Atomic something or others in the early 90's. I was extremely skeptical of these new type skis and was discussing it on the chair at Searchmont with a local instructor. He insisted that I use his brand new 170CM Atomics for the entire afternoon (those Canucks are trusting people ...) and said it would be a religious experience! I was absolutely stunned by the performance and never looked back. One day, I'll jump on one of my old 205 or 210 long boards and see what happens :eek:
BTW, the VO Slaloms were closely patterned after the original Dynamic VR17.
Here's my current setup - Porsche-branded Volkls.
Attachment 174041
Yeah Curt, I'd heard of that connection to the VR17s. I think the VOs were about an inch thick underfoot, and as I said, you had to be very aggressive to get them to carve. Now my line to newer skiers on the modern skis is that they are so automatic, you just put a quarter in the slot at the shovel and the skis do all the work for you. I've tried to teach old school skiers how to optimize the sidecut of these wunderskis, but making the leap to a pure roll-on, roll-off carve is a big hurdle. Today's race technique is such that if you're sliding, you're slow (aside from the stivot, but that's another story).
Here's another cool pic; Redford's 911 Sportomatic. Can't recognize the skis, but those are Marker turntable bindings and Cubcos?! Yikes!
I just mounted up some 1967 Fischer Alu RSLs today! 210 cm. I have Marker jigs for turntable based models as a ski shop would throw me out. Old long skis are a blast. You owe it to yourself to try them on an uncrowded day when you can ski a little faster without offending the patrol. They certainly like to be skied old school (visualize Ingmar Stenmark) with a defined weight transfer to the new downhill ski.will I have tried to roll them on their edges with a more even weight distribution and they didn't like it.
Spalding Siderals are my favorite skis to ski on. People would ask when I switch from them to modern skis. My simple reply is: when I can ski them as well as Gustavo Theoni...never.
I watched Downhill Racer the other night. I believe those bindings are Besser, maybe Americana and the skis are Head Killy 800s and 360s. The car is a 912 with a strange combo of houndstooth headrests with plain seats? Never seen anything like that??
Very cool picture of the 904. Can you imagine being in a traffic jam going up the access road, stop and go on an incline with all those roller bearings....brutal!!
Jens, happy to help pick up those NJ skis if you buy.
r.
Remember the Toni Sailer box section fiberglass ski? They were so smooth. Still, it's impossible to look back and think that any of that technology holds a candle to what a modern slalom ski can do. I've live through it all and paid attention the whole way. This is my 56th season on snow; passionately on snow. I've sat in the Den in the baselodge at Stowe and discussed technique with the best of them, Stu Campbell was a dear friend. After all the huffing and puffing and aggravation listening to wrong theory (never from Stu), I've decided that there is no single right way to go out and have fun on the snow... It's all good!! And I've since stopped being right on the bar stool. I just sit and listen, smile politely and grunt 'n' nod. On the hill and in the gates, the skis speak for themselves. In all these years it's never been better and it's never been more fun!
There certainly was a lot of merit to box section, fiberglass skis where they were actually laid up during construction as opposed to a sheet of cured fiberglass as a laminate. Do you know anything about the car killy is driving? Looks more like a track car but the rear wiper is interesting. I wonder if he sits back coming out of the turns.