For a few years now I've been demoing skis for ski companies. The traditional approach for ski brands awareness is bring the fleet to trade shows like S.I.A. But can we just find the shape and style of ski that we like and then deduce the best ski for each rider?
For now i don't have the time but ill try to update this post with a model when i can. In the meantime i thought it would be fun to let you play with the market data i had. you can manipulate the below report by clicking on any graphic:
What can we see?
First and foremost, the market is primarily dominated by a couple large producers. in addition the market is predominantly All-Mountain terrain type, this makes sense as the largest distribution of skiers will be satisfied by a ski that can do any terrain type to some degree. However as one gets more comfortable with gear they tend to migrate more to the hybrid or specific categories of big mountain and touring. The rating of skill level is directly related to the waist width. As waist measurements increase ratings move from beginner to intermediate to advanced. That being said can we assume the widest ski maker makes the skis requiring the most skill to operate? No, as some brands make out of trend shapes and width's; most often offer a "boiler plate" line that can appeal to a wider consumer set.
Powder Skis - fat is where its at
Who makes the fat skis? Line seems to stand out in making the widest skis on the market but upon further research i found that the data set had few line references. with a larger set it looked like Icelantic makes the widest skis on average. Price is not related to shape or size but Kastle does make the most expensive skis. This is more so the effect of building material cost with the use of titanium cores. My favorite and the most common of ski profiles is Rocker/Camber/Rocker(pg.2) likely due to the universality of a design that rides the same in both directions, again appealing to a larger market.
Curves
Most Brands conform to a set curvature or turn radius value while a couple stand out(pg.2). When observing the scatter by brand we can see the way some brands follow the same curvature over length causing a pattern to emerge from the width and turn radius which is a function of the length of the ski and the parabola between tip-waist-tail. I could have derived the true skis shape for each item but this measure seemed to be detailed enough without disclosing exact ski dimensions. In essence though each brand has found a relative sweet spot or multiple spots for curvature and shape.
Conclusion
The Ski industry is predominately focused in the mainstream brands with a general distribution of shapes, lengths, and areas. The definitive factor in ski price seems to be strictly material and brand recognition oriented. While the trends for design seem to be modeled by nearly every major brand. The smaller brands have more shape and more parabola while also having lower prices. Overall if i were to buy another pair of skis i would focus on a small company with a shape i like and a reasonable price, as it seems the only reason to buy the expensive brands skis is to display their logo.
I'm interested in applying AI and Data Science to world problems. If you have a research topic suggestion or would like to talk about projects please reach out! Here