Hi guys,
I am new here. I have been measuring skis for 15+ years, first as an undergrad design project, then in a research lab and now through a startup (Sooth Skis). We measure the "fundamental properties" of skis along their full length (e.g., width, height, mass, bending stiffness / flex and torsional stiffness), so you can know, for example, that the tip of a ski is much stiffer than another ski. We think this is better than just having an average number. We also measure the torsional stiffness, which is a big part of what make a ski being playful or grippy. We found that freeskiing skis generally have a low torsional stiffness for more playfulness...
Anyways, after measuring that raw data, we convert it into slightly more useable numbers and graphs. We still have work to do on that front and hope that the community can provide feedback. All the data is available online in a "comparator". Access is free. No registration needed. You can access the comparator here:
https://compareskis.shinyapps.io/compare/
We have more than 3000 skis in the comparator now, including 1200 from 2021-22. We try to measure all the lengths available, as each company scale their skis differently.
We think this can help people shop for skis. We also think that over time each skier will get to know what they personally like in a ski and be able to use the comparator efficiently. It is still very raw information, but once you start using it we feel there is no going back. We don't really know where this will lead us, but we would like to continue measuring skis if other people also find it useful. We think this can be complementary to on-snow reviews, and specially useful when reviews are not available in the model/length of interest or if you can't demo.
We are still missing many brands, but are very willing to measure any skis manufacturers would send us. So far we have been measuring skis from what is available in shops around Quebec, including Ski Michel, Oberson, Ski Town, D-Structure, Sport Radical and Ski Essentials. We are thankful for their help. Please encourage them if you can.
I will reply to a few recent threads with exemples on how to use the comparator. We think it is pretty self explanatory, but we wrote a short tutorial the basic functions:
https://soothski.com/compare-skis-with-measures/2021/ski-comparison-application-guide/
Hope you find this useful!
Alexis