This is Jerm commenting from a different phlatland.

>      Maple wood core remember! I think that's the main key to any and all
of
> the qualities I've seen thus far (though the extra wide steel edges
probably
> are responsible for that awesome,  full sounding, eminating screach).

What kind of wood are skis usually made of? Pine? Fir? Ash??

As someone who's seen the process of making sliding toys (three weeks in the
Burton factory, where you don't EVER want to wear a MRG shirt to work) I can
see how a ski from someplace like Igneous would be more beefy and last
longer. When you have a huge factory pumping out hundreds or thousands of
skis per day, it's cheaper to make a ski less durable (though maybe just as
well performing out of the box) and just replace them when someone breaks
them. From what I heard Burton's Supermodel series is less durable than
their regular sandwich construction models, but because of the cap it
eliminates a couple of steps in the whole process, thereby allowing them to
make them faster. Better to get out 9000 boards with 3000 returns in the
same time it take to make 900 boards with 10 returns.  In the end the
materials cost dirt, the labor costs $$.  If Igneous is serious about that
warrantee, and being as small as they are, they must be paying very close
attention to the construction of each individual ski rather than having
inexperienced temp workers shove it along an assembly line.

99% of the public doesn't abuse equipment like we do so there is no
incentive for the mass-producers to make something that can last. It's
exactly the same thing that's going through car manufacturers heads. They
could make them last.. but then you wouldn't buy a new one next year right?
I think it would be far more useful to me if a ski mag published the return
rate and general warrantee history on certain companies and models of ski.
That would tell me a lot more about their construction techniques and the
quality of the ski than a paid off ski tester. Until you can come up with a
100% quantitative way of testing skis (meaning no humans involved) I'm not
even gonna read those stupid articles.

FWIW about 80% of the time and effort spent is on purely cosmetic details.
If you could settle for a ski with a blemished topskin or less than perfect
graphics. the ski would cost many hundreds of dollars less. It takes Burton
about 20 minutes to make the board itself in its ridable form. After that
they spend about 2 hours just tweaking the paint job.  I suspect it is a
very similar situation with skis.

Jerm

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