The answers to these questions determine whether you should consider purchasing a pair of custom designed hand-crafted Mert Skis. What is the best pair of skis you’ve ever owned? We can’t answer that one, but if you’re not skiing on them now we can help. If you still have the skis but the edges are almost filed off, or the bottoms are trashed, or the camber has gone flat, Mert Skis can make another pair. We take geometrical, flexural, and torsional measurements from your old skis and reproduce them in a new pair.
But maybe you want to start from scratch. Why not just go into a shop and buy a mass produced ski? Because mass produced skis are produced for the masses. A stiffer ski is required for a person who generates more force in a turn, either by virtue of his weight, speed, or decreased turn radius. With mass produced skis, the way you increase stiffness is to increase length. The consequences are a more difficult ski to turn, a wider tip, or an increased turn radius. For a skier who is lighter, less force is generated in the turn. With mass produced skis, a decrease in length is required to obtain a more flexible ski. One consequence is less stability at higher speeds. For any ski length, Mert Skis offers three standard flexes with additional custom flexes available on request.
Did you know that the highest performance skis are not available to the general public?
Why not? First let’s talk about what makes a ski high performance. Holding power on ice is equated with performance. This property is largely due to torsional rigidity or the ability to resist twist. The skis with the highest torsional rigidity are the most responsive and hold the best on ice. Slight movements of the body cause the ski to engage in the turn. This property will cause even advanced skiers with less finesse to hook their tips whereas the more experienced skier does not suffer this fate. The person who is able to ski the highest torsional rigidity ski is able to hold exceedingly well on hard ice with less effort.
So why aren’t the highest performance skis available to the general skiing public through mass producers? Because many skiers would not have a pleasant experience on high torsional rigidity skis. Hooking of tips and catching of edges on flats would be more frequent. At Mert Skis, we make very high torsional rigidity skis available and match our skis to skier ability.
We’ll say it again. We match skis to skier ability. So a word to those skiers who might have been scared off by the previous discussion. At Mert Skis, we match skis to skier ability. So even though you are not an elite racer or an expert, we will make the ski that is right for you. If you don’t like them, return them, and if you’re better served by something we don’t make, we won’t attempt to sell you our skis.