If you look at photos of skiers from the 1970s and compare them to today, the most striking difference isn’t the neon clothing—it’s the equipment. The technology of skis has undergone several massive revolutions that have fundamentally changed how the sport is practiced.
The Long and Straight Era
For decades, skis were completely straight and incredibly long. In the 1980s, it was common for an average adult male to ski on 200cm to 210cm skis. To turn these massive planks, skiers had to use a bounding, hopping technique, aggressively unweighting the tails to pivot the skis. Carving a clean turn on hardpack was a skill reserved only for elite racers.
The “Shaped Ski” Revolution
Everything changed in the early 1990s with the introduction of “parabolic” or shaped skis (like the revolutionary Elan SCX and the K2
The “Shaped Ski” Revolution
Everything changed in the early 1990s with the introduction of “parabolic” or shaped skis. By making the tip and tail significantly wider than the waist, engineers created a ski with a deep sidecut. This allowed the ski to naturally flex into an arc when tipped on its edge. Suddenly, recreational skiers could easily execute clean, carved turns without needing to forcefully pivot the ski.
The Fat Ski and Rocker Era
In the late 1990s and 2000s, skis began to get wider underfoot to provide better flotation in deep powder. But wide skis were difficult to maneuver in hard snow. The solution? “Rocker” or reverse-camber technology.
Pioneered by the late Shane McConkey (who drew inspiration from water skis), rocker means the tip (and often the tail) of the ski curve upward early, before the traditional contact point. This design lifts the ski out of deep snow, making powder skiing effortless, and makes wide skis surprisingly nimble in tight trees and moguls by reducing the effective edge length.
Today’s skis are a marvel of composite engineering, carbon fiber, and geometry, making skiing easier, safer, and more fun than at any point in history!