Posted 9 years ago
michaelr.g.1
(30 items)
I purchased these un-used skis with burn marks in 1992 at an auction in Pekin Illinois....Very poor selection of wood with a knot, uneven cut lines, burned the wood while bending up tips, poorly drilled holes for bindings and no toe straps. I have never seen another pair of skis with burn marks. ARE THESE FAKE SKIS ? or just a poorly made pair ? I have been skeptical about reports of replicas made to look like old skies for decoration purposes, but anything is possible. ...UPDATE... I don't know if the skis pictured above are replicas, but I recently visited Cleveland Creek Lodge and Log Furniture store and saw several wood ski replicas from Scandinavia. The skis even had a simulated cracked varnish finish that was so good It passed the 10 foot test (IE they looked real from a glance).
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I am also wondering about the old Swiss tradition of "barrel stave" skiing, whereby woodworkers equip staves for skiing, some of which actually have metal edges and bindings. This sort of equipment was usually made for kids to get them interested in the sport of skiing, especially during the depression era. DID ANYBODY EVER MASS PRODUCE REALISTIC STAVE SKIS FOR DECORATION PURPOSES, or are they all individually hand made ???......I have seen the Jet-Ski, by a Grand Rapids, Minnesota Manufacturing Company, but it was a cheesy kids version of the barrel stave skis made of plywood back in the 6o's. Surprisingly, starting around 2010 ski engineers come full circle embracing barrel stave like shapes. The technical term for a barrel staves "rocker" shape is a "reverse camber", which is more suited for skiing powder conditions than packed surfaces. Other names include early rise, pop rocker, shovel rocker, all-mountain rocker and cam-rock. STAVE SKI UPDATE: Evidently, there where companies using real wine barrels to manufacture stave skies back in the 1950's, the most impressive being the ones braded BAR-L-SKI by Micris Industries, Inc. (297 Mill Plain Road, Fairfield, CT 06430). The staves came equipped with metal edges, ebonite coated bottom, and real bindings by Gerdau that were only partially attached so you could size up your own boots to them. They also came with detailed instruction for mounting the bindings and skiing on them, plus a bumper sticker reading "Barrel Down a Mountain."
Thanks for your time
NOTE: Mounted on the wall below skies is a 1950's t-bar ski lift from Winter Park, Colorado ski resort (see t-bar post below).
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http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/121179-help-identify-maker-of-my-t-bar-ski-lift
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Mike: These appear to be poorly made decorative skis. I've been a skier for many years, and own many pairs including vintage skis. Sorry.