Comments on: New G3 Zenoxide C3: light, fat, and stiff

By: Peter Burke

Peter Burke — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:02:27 +0000

not sure if this stuff will stick to a ski (it does work on metal surfaces, so I guess it would) but it even repels oil, Ice and water are the easy things for it to shed:

Ultra-Ever-Dry

http://youtu.be/IPM8OR6W6WE

Expensive, as you may have guessed

By: Lou Dawson

Lou Dawson — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:56:47 +0000

I don’t see how anything can be more hydrophobic than alpine ski wax, which is what I rub on the tops of the skis to try and help. But I’m willing to try anything. Light colored skis are the solution, really. White with just some small graphics. Been experimenting with this for years, and I’ve seen a few people paint their skis white when they got sick of hauling around a pile of ice. Lou

By: Charlie

Charlie — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:49:38 +0000

Hey Lou,

I wondered if you have ever thought about applying a hydrophobic coating to the top of a ski in order to reduce snow build-up? I remember you bemoaning the dark topsheet of certain skis because of ice / snow loading under sunny conditions, and with good reason: why spend hundreds of dollars on light-weight skis and then schlepp a couple of kilos of ice on them up the mountain?

There are a couple products coming onto the market now claiming that they are durable hydrophobic coatings. One of them is called UltraEverDry and there are some pretty amazing youtube videos circulating about it (disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with any of these companies).

It could be a fun experiment to treat one ski with the coating and leave the other as a ‘control’. You’ll have to weigh the skis at the bottom and top of course *smile*. What about it Lou? Does it work? How durable is it? Backcountry skiers with fatigued hip flexors demand to know the truth!

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:39:28 +0000

Since I opened this topic I suppose I should chime in. I’ve 20 years as a yachtbuilder and project manager and have seen a lot of clear coat failures as well as a few successes. Unprotected standard epoxy will deteriorate structurally and fail cosmetically in the tropics within a matter of six months to a year.

Awlgrip clear has many virtues but very limited UV barrier capability. I’ve used it extremely successfully as a tough upper layer over varnish that provides the UV barrier.
Awlbrite, the company’s clear wood finish product has in my experience a limited success and life expectancy. In any case it is not durable enough to be used for skis.

I doubt if any clear topskins that ski manufacturers might employ have significant UV resistance. However even where they expose structural carbon laminates it shouldn’t become an issue unless the exposure is extreme, like storing in direct sunlight for several off seasons. So don’t mount them on the deck of your sailboat and sail to Tahiti. LOL