I’m super excited to learn about Siberian Hunter Skis being sold commercially as I am not excited about snow shoes. Here’s where to get them. http://tropa42.ru/english
You’ll notice in the catalog that the skis are 5500 py6. This means they are $95! I have not figured out shipping but plan on it. The boots they make look amazing too.
Are these the same ones from the Traditional Winter Camping FB group? Sounded like there was no real answer from the guy who posted it last time I saw it.
At manufacturing only natural aspen and horse fur are used. No synthetics and plastic!
Wow. Aspen sounds breaky smashy, but that’s cool.
quite interesting. im currently on the hunt for the right tree to make some of these. Tis the time of year.
has anyone else tried making em befor?
am i reading that right? theyre made of aspen? i got lots of straight aspen here but never thought itd be good for a ski.hmmmm…
These aren’t the same, though that guy said they get good reviews. I think they are laminated Aspen.
I think if I were going to make these myself I would likely pick spruce or birch. Basically the closest bow wood I could find. If I had modern equipment to laminate I might have more choices. I think the trapper in Happy People uses spruce.
Another guy, Kelly Nolan, makes and sells similar skis in the states. https://youtu.be/90pf1zVRyfw
He hasn’t told me how much but I am guessing a lot. I would guess too he’s using Ash or hickory.
Edit: he had them made for him.
@andrew how does @david make the birch pieces for his sled class again? Does he have a mill of some sort? @glennhelkenn
Kelly wants to sell his skis for $500. Sounds like they are a prototype of sorts. http://www.wintertrekking.com/community/index.php?topic=4013.0
Not sure how David is doing it now, but he was using a chainsaw mill for the initial planks in 2014/15.
Here’s some one who made spruce skis. Pretty, pretty cool.
Looks good. Brightened up one of the photos as I was having a hard time visualizing the dimensions. Still a little dark.
Loooks like it could be any random hill around #nodes:boreal-alaska-node-one
Thanks for pointing these. Marcus Leopola has a bunch of great research on Academia.com too. Lot’s of archery stuff.
I could totally make these. What’s super creepy is NM and Colorado have little to no snow, so I wouldn’t be able to try them out yet.
Anyone have suggestions on alternatives to moose, horse, or seal for the ski bottoms? I have beaver hides but they are slipping.
Thanks i will look him up on there.
So i have seen some of them with attached hides and others with removable hides…is there a preferred style?
https://www.jonasbendiksen.com/National-Geographic/Last-of-the-First-Skiers/16
No idea on attached or detached.
One of those pictures gives me an idea. I wondered if I could use several hides on one ski. About five pictures in shows someone with about three or four on each ski. Looks like muskrat or beaver.
I personally would prefer glued/attached hides. I feel like snow/ice would sneak in between the ski and the detachable hide slowing the skier down. Seems like attached hides improve the durability of the ski too.
The Extended (original?) version of Happy People goes into more detail on the spruce (I think?) skis than the U.S. release. I believe it’s in Episode 1, Spring…
Yeah i have seen many pics of skis made from smaller hides or sections. Found this quote from a article on competion skiing.
"When moving uphill, the coarse fibers of the fur dig into the snow, allowing the skiers to gain the necessary purchase, but they flatten down and become slick during a descent. “The fur has to come from the forelegs of horses because the hairs are long and thick. That makes the skis fast and durable,” said Sengelite, "
I am assuming the importance on hide characteristics will be dependent on the terrain you will be skiing but over all use what you can get.
but I think the ones i seen simply tied on might have been raw hides …come spring you could use the hides for something else.(?)
and I noticed their sleds have hides the …looked like yak maybe.
Is moose hide from the legs the usual option? I seem to remember that being the case. While in a neighbor’s shop welding up the crashed snowmachine, there was a moose foreleg sitting right next to me that I wanted to grab. I’ll inquire about it when I go back over there in a couple days.
i would think lower leg from other cervids would work similarly well, though moose hair is thicker for sure.
