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abjectwoe
May, 2025

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How to repair a bent ski?

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Pozzy
Posts: 351 - Karma: 794
Long story short: have no money for new skis.

Does anybody have any experience or ideas on how to repair this so that it is somewhat stable for continued use? Have considered layers of fibreglass or carbon fibre affixed onto topsheet via slow curing epoxy, unsure if it would hold or not.

Bend is on the tail end of the ski as seen in pic below:


thanks in advance
5 months ago
8 1
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Biffbarf
Posts: 7429 - Karma: 79,494
Oof dude, she gone but you can do whatever ghetto shit you want and let us know how it skis
5 months ago
25 0
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Denseclouds
Posts: 536 - Karma: 3,193
They're likely toast, unfortunately. Your idea could in theory work for some mellow cruisers short term. I would also drill the carbon fiber/fiberglass, in addition to the epoxy
5 months ago
2 0
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Denseclouds
Posts: 536 - Karma: 3,193
Keep us updated if you do!
5 months ago
1 0
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freestyler540
Posts: 13231 - Karma: 20,388
Please dont go riding with that. Ya might really hurt yourself
5 months ago
7 0
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Way*Mo
Posts: 772 - Karma: 3,185
Shop around. You could probably find some decent used sticks for $175.

you’ll spend $60-70 in epoxy and supplies for a fix that wont work.
5 months ago
17 0
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9736 - Karma: 65,749
yeah those are toast. you can still ride them, ive ridden a season out on a snapped pair like that, but you should definitely keep in mind that the ski is broken and act accordingly when riding. i wouldn't put yourself in any situations where relying on that snapped ski could put you in danger

i'm not aware of any way to save a snapped ski, i think everyone agrees there isn't one
5 months ago
5 0
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GrandThings
Posts: 3301 - Karma: 34,082
Maybe hit up ON3P to see if they have any singles?
5 months ago
11 0
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SlushSeason
Posts: 1183 - Karma: 9,050
Hey, this is relevant to my job! I spent 3 years coming up with repairs for composite parts on airplanes
That ski is fucked so any repair is gonna suck.
But the best repair you can do for it is called a scarf joint. You're gonna want to sand off the topsheet for like 4 inches in either direction. Under the topsheet, check if the fiberglass is still intact.
If the fiberglass is good (just bent, no cracking) don't sand any further. Clean the surface very thoroughly with isopropyl. Then bond 2-3 plies (layers) of fiberglass on top of the damaged area. Ideally one of the layers should be rotated 45° relative to the others.
If the ski's fiberglass is fucked too, you're going to want to sand on a taper so that it's deepest at the break and tapers off to be level with the topsheet 4-6" away. At the break, it should be sanded deep enough to fit 4-6 layers of fiberglass. Sanding into the wood is ok. So basically you're gonna want to fill the sanded area with fiberglass, so it's gotta taper to match. The first layer you put down should only be like 2" wide. Then 4" wide. Then 6" wide. Then 8" wide. And again, it's best if half of the layers are rotated 45° (so the threads are running diagonal)
For your materials, i assume the best you're gonna get is the stuff they use for boat repairs. Look up a video guide for how to wet layup and it'll show you how to place the plies and brush epoxy on.
I'm on mobile now, but when i get home tonight i can draw up some basic diagrams if you need
5 months ago
23 0
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BallClapper
Posts: 3709 - Karma: 16,843
Cut it off and do fishtail.
5 months ago
11 1
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Denseclouds
Posts: 536 - Karma: 3,193
Who here remembers the "skied through a ditch" days
5 months ago
9 0
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Dollos_Disciple
Posts: 15 - Karma: 231
looks like you have the first pair of triple camber ON3P's to me
5 months ago
10 0
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flavourtown
Posts: 329 - Karma: 2,018
Dollos_Disciplelooks like you have the first pair of triple camber ON3P's to me


page outta moments book
5 months ago
0 0
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9244 - Karma: 5,689
DensecloudsWho here remembers the "skied through a ditch" days


I was about to ask. OP, did you happen to come into contact with any ditches lately?
5 months ago
7 0
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WGalinski
Posts: 75 - Karma: 442
I broke a ski like that once while getting caught in the middle of a large S-box. I thought it was toast, my local ski shop thought it was toast, but I gave it a try at repairing and I successfully got it to ski for the rest of that season.

I used a good amount of epoxy with multiple high tenion clamps to try and get the ski back into original shape- it was a bit off true shape and skied a little funny, but after curing for a few days it rode for a couple months and actually held up longer than the edges did. Surprisingly enough I learned rodeo 5’s on those skis after repairing and they never gave out on me landing switch. The $10 in material cost and an hour of my time/effort was well worth it for my use case scenario (mostly low angle slopes/midwest parks).

As mentioned above make sure the majority of fiberglass is intact and not completely broken apart along with the woodcore- thats the guts of your ski and if you lose much of that its not worth the attempt of repairing.
5 months ago
4 0
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Pozzy
Posts: 351 - Karma: 794
Thanks everyone for the advice, tips and jokes - shoutout galinski and slushseason for the writeups. currently looking into wet layup steps and may attempt this weekend if I can carve enough time away from school. Unfortunately do not have much of a shop setup here so will have to buy or makeshift some clamps…. and no there was no ditches involved, just bad luck impacting timberline park snow
5 months ago
4 0
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Fireball123
Posts: 5 - Karma: 17
I would say they’re toast
5 months ago
1 1
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skierman
Posts: 8600 - Karma: 9,518
DensecloudsThey're likely toast, unfortunately.


I'm fairly certain those are skis, buddy.
5 months ago
12 1
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skierman
Posts: 8600 - Karma: 9,518
SofaKingSickyeah those are toast.


I don't think you guys know what cooked bread looks like......
5 months ago
1 7
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skierman
Posts: 8600 - Karma: 9,518
SofaKingSickyeah those are toast.


I don't think you guys know what slightly roasted bread looks like......
5 months ago
1 8
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jompcock
Posts: 1578 - Karma: 11,738
I was gonna offer to try to fix them but I live about an 8 hour flight away from you. If you wanna do it justice, try to peel up the topsheet, grind out any loose glass (wear a respirator!) Fill with layered fiberglass wet with resin, rough any glassed surfaces, and either clamp lightly or place in a vacuum bag. Oh and bend the ski how it needs to before you do any of this.
5 months ago
2 0
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theabortionator
Posts: 52616 - Karma: 174,484
Maybe post your size and see if someone here can sell you some cheap park beaters if it doesn't work.
5 months ago
2 0
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Pozzy
Posts: 351 - Karma: 794
Unfortunately will not commit to the repair, I am increasingly unsure if the pro of a semi-usable ski outweighs the cons of money and time invested into a likely butchered job.

If anybody in the Portland area is or knows a guy who does fiberglass work I’d be happy to bring it over, otherwise i’ll just borrow a friends old skis for the rest of the season and keep my eyes glued to snowshare for a single 186 100 mango
5 months ago
1 2
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iswitchoneeighty
Posts: 19 - Karma: 16
Chop it
5 months ago
0 5
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Lippamani
Posts: 1508 - Karma: 16,348
Boooooooooo if you gonna borrow a pair anyway you might as well see if you can create a learning experience.
PozzyUnfortunately will not commit to the repair, I am increasingly unsure if the pro of a semi-usable ski outweighs the cons of money and time invested into a likely butchered job.

If anybody in the Portland area is or knows a guy who does fiberglass work I’d be happy to bring it over, otherwise i’ll just borrow a friends old skis for the rest of the season and keep my eyes glued to snowshare for a single 186 100 mango
5 months ago
2 0
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Pozzy
Posts: 351 - Karma: 794
Update: I went for it


started with peeling up the topsheet at the bend point



sanded it down so I had enough space to layup fiberglass evenly


Cut 4 pieces of fiberglass, one with threads running on a diagonal



mixed up my WEST SYSTEMS G FLEX EPOXY and layed em up


Placed wax paper around the whole thing, wrapped it with tape together with the other skis’ tail to match the curve as evenly as I could and then put a flat scraper with clamps on top for good measure.



First result: fiberglass shifted towards the tail and to the right during cure, resulting in two strips of ski not covered by fiberglass (the top strip and the right side in this picture):


So I sanded it down again, making sure to sand extra where there was no fiberglass so I could lay up extra strips


Here it is cleaned up with isopropyl before the second layup


My 8 strips of fiberglass (4 for the bigger strip of ski that didn’t have fiberglass, 4 for the smaller strip), alternated straight and diagonal cuts and sizes increasing each time to overlap with the other fiberglass


Made sure to tape my base and edges this time to prevent epoxy overflow cleanup


Wax papered, taped, and clamped


Result: much better


Sanded it so it was more even throughout, and here they are side by side








Going up to mt hood this weekend, will be putting them to the test. Huge shoutout to SlushSeason for providing continued guidance throughout this process, never done anything like this before
4 months ago
21 0
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Rock_Inhabitant
Posts: 1543 - Karma: 16,711
Sick ^^
4 months ago
2 1
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SlushSeason
Posts: 1183 - Karma: 9,050
Great Result @Pozzy! I'm glad you went for it and i hope they ski well!
4 months ago
1 0
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tdollo
Posts: 3883 - Karma: 19,880
dude that's a sick repair! I would've written those off so good on ya for keeping em kicking!
4 months ago
3 0
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deadhead420
Posts: 2112 - Karma: 18,584
Wait how did repair work? That looked like the wood core was totally fractured the whole way through and only the topsheet and base holding the ski together. How is epoxy lay up going to help when the core is snaped?
4 months ago
1 0
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Pozzy
Posts: 351 - Karma: 794
deadhead420Wait how did repair work? That looked like the wood core was totally fractured the whole way through and only the topsheet and base holding the ski together. How is epoxy lay up going to help when the core is snaped?


Core was surprisingly not fractured just bent - you can see the progression of the bend from the 1st to 3rd picture, I brought out a hairdryer and heated the ski up so I could slowly bend it back little by little until the curve was close to normal. Then as the layup cured clamped together with the other skis’ tail it set into the proper curve
4 months ago
1 0
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WGalinski
Posts: 75 - Karma: 442
Awesome job! Let us know how they hold up!
4 months ago
2 0
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Pozzy
Posts: 351 - Karma: 794
they held up perfect, no problems through powder, crashes, and backseat landings


Stoked!
4 months ago
10 0
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Daddy5K1***5
Posts: 414 - Karma: 1,838
mount your ski backwards and only hit park with em til they snap more, if you don't ski park then mount it backwards and ittl probs last you a while. Will also help with your style cuz no back seat landing... additionally, sound whack but im sure youre body would adjust if you're not too OCD like everyone else
4 months ago
0 3
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Tyler_jay4
Posts: 2 - Karma: 2
Don't.
4 months ago
0 5
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