Now Defunct Ski Companies Of the World

[Deanoski]

ARC water ski boot!! first releasable hard shell. 1986-1993

 

for salom and JUMP.

 

 

[Jody_Seal]

Some time during the Mid 90's Their was a company that built Jumpers and trick skis. They did get a slalom mold from someone but never really devolped a ski, Exocet !?!? (spelling) Russell Gay and his father maybe were owners

 

Also Sammy Started the Duvall skis in the early 90's with a line of slalom skis that were pretty good. I skied on a 900 for a couple of years. Still have the wifes 64" 900.

 

I collect old wood skis and use them for other projects, I have a very nice little monster that I built into a skateboard.

Any one heard of the Vogue waterski?

[jwr]

I was happy to see the EP system 90 binders go the way of the dodo bird.

[Horton]

Coyote Brothers Research is alive and well here at BallOfSpray but CarbonFins is very defunct.

[ep26]

I have been looking for a Hexcel for my collection. If anybody knows of one Im interested Also a Kidder Pro Link

[Ham_Wallace]

Call Kris LaPoint, Leza Harrison or "Wild" Bill walker.

[jgalitz]

I have a Hexcel slalom in great condition with the matching headband that I would be interested in selling. The ski has double lace up bindings. It is #245. I also have a Torque SuperComp in great shape with the rigid heel front binding. This is the one with the US flag motif. This is a rare and great ski.

[jgalitz]

I have been collecting skis for some time now and actually built a ski museum in my house. Some of the defuct skis that I have are: Torque, Hedlund and Lund, Churchill, Hexcel, Sea Glider, Vogue, Taperflex, Voit, Wally Burr, Velmar, Apco, Rail, Cut N' Jump, Murdoch, Flecky-Snyder, Carbonworx, Aluma craft, Wiley, Lowell, Western Wood, Northland, Cypress Gardens, Hydro Flite and my oldest are Dolphin Akwa-Skees (1925). I have skied on all of them and I am amazed how the skiers of their era were able to ski so well on them. There is a lot to the history of ski making I hope it will never be lost.

[briandawsonskis]

The one that comes to mind is Rainbow skis. 50% owner was Tom Murphy. The second was Acme. I only saw one ski come off the production line (aka ULM ski dock) from the ball of hair and it ripped!

[Horton]

Lucky no one was hurt on the Acme!

[Horton]

@jgalitz I thought I had a sickness until I read your post. Compared to you I am a normal skier.

 

By the way I have an early 70s EP trick ski - still in the plastic with the warranty card and other post card inside. It is leaning on my MasterCraft Pulse in the corner of my office.

[Ham_Wallace]

I remember them all. I do have a pair of Ricky McCormick TrikMasters that have never been drilled for bindings. I have my Mom's jumpers from the late 40's. HydroFlyte Water Sprites with double fins. They are cool. They still have her plates on them. I need to make some new bindings for them. I have my 48 year old Billy Spencer Tournament Bevel Lil' Monster and an aray of MasterCraft slaloms.

[Wish]

How about K-Glass. Water Ski Hall of Fame has a red one (from a pair) on the wall. Apparently they were the first mass produced fiberglass skis (I could be way off on that). I have a pair of yellow ones. My dad bought them new in early 60s late 50s.

[jgalitz]

Kendall made the K-Glass ski and were the first mass produced fiberglass skis. They were known for making plaid graphics. I can't figure out what the thinking was there. The EP trick skis are a great find. It is Torque trick skis from the 70's that were most ahead of their time. The design and shape is still used by companies like D3 for their trick skis. If you look at some of the old designs they were well ahead of their time. The first parabolic skis were first patented in 1925 by Fred Waller who also patented the first concave skis. His original patent even describes how the design works. Amazing considering these were the first patented skis ever.

[thompjs]

I have a pair of the plaid skis.

 

I used to use one as a barefoot step off ski. It was really stable at 40 mph - I could just stand on top of the bindings -- no non-skid.

 

 

[east tx skier]

A little late to this thread, but I still have 3 pairs of Hexcel snow skis. One black with green, one yellow with green, and one the fluorescent orange, green, etc. on black.

[Wish]

Best thing about the K-Glass skies was using them to teach someone how to ski. They did and do not float like corks so the newby skier did not have to fight skies that flopped around while they waited for the rope tightened up.

[fu_man]

How about Casad? I don't think they are around any more. Also, last summer I was in skiing in the north in Wisconsin and ran across 2 relics.....and skied them. Never heard of them before. 1st was a Hydro-Flite it was a 1950's-ish slalom ski. Pretty much a flat piece of pine with a squared off back and a fin that had to be 6-7 inches deep. The other was a Northland "Warren Witherell" model. At least that one looked a bit more modern.

[sixball]

I have a Taperflex In the Garage rafters.

[GAJ0004]

Anyone remember CASAD? They made ropes, trick releases, and accessories.

 

[jgalitz]

fu_man, the hydro-flite you have is a great find. They were made by a company called Hedlund who also made snow skis and Hockey sticks. Here is some information about the company. http://www.nokomisonline.com/hedlundhistory.html The ski is from the 50's and cost $37 at the time. The were great skis for their time. I have the same Northland "Custom" slalom. Northland skis had red painted bottoms and were some of the best tournament skis in the early 60's.

[thager]

The Northlands were made about 15 miles north of me in LeCenter, Minnesota. I had a Shark followed by a tunnel ski I can't remember the name of."Pro"? Had a beautiful toothpick like inlay. Cracked a bunch of them but they always gave me a new one when I took it back to the factory. Had a pair of trixsters also. Fun memories!

[Ham_Wallace]

JGalitz= It was Kimball. Not Kendall,

[jgalitz]

Sorry, you are right Kimball not kendall. Brain freeze.

[Phil2360]

Bump!

 

[A_B]

Skunkworks.

Carbonworks.

 

I have a EP X2 with comfort grip, Kidder Pro, EP trick pair, 2 HO Extremes black and green, TRX, chuck sterns wood slalom.

 

 

[6balls]

I've got an EP GX3 and a pair of 72'' EP jump skis that will give you fiberglass slivers if you try to handle them. All of those have standard adjustable bindings of the day perfect for barefoot step-outs, two ski bomb-outs, or going over the jump (not so much).

 

[skihart]

I have a pair of Aqua Rite wood tricks in my basement that my dad used to use years ago....also have an old 42 EP wing tip and a 63 Jobe open class that is heavy but still skis well for the kids. Used to be Judy McClintocks ski if I remember correctly. (Whit's aunt I think) I think there is also an O'brien Competitor... 68 probably.......oh ya also have a 30 year old Hydroslide knee board we pull out once in awhile too!

[block]

Miss that" Great American " slalom ski. I skied on one for several years. I believe Lucky Skied on one for a while. Maybe late 70's.

[Broussard]

I have my uncle's old Vector Graphite at the lake

 

 

[jgalitz]

Great Americans are hard to find. Not many were made. I am selling a 40" Carbonworx trick with reflex binding on Ebay. I had the ski custom painted with flames.

[phntmski]

My dad had a nice wood custom made Rail. It's the only one I've ever seen. Don't know how but it got busted up pretty good. Don't know what ever happened to it. Other than that, we all had cypress gardens.

[sergiomoulatlet]

the very first ski I saw (from my father) was an italian made called "Lello campione del mondo " with an old Freyre bindings that ajusts itself (become tighter) wile you ski .

Than I saw the wood and the black Maheraja .

The La Point skis , they used to be so light colored white and blue prints .Had the same tip as the Master Craft or the HO A1.

Knew one french brand called Sim's (wood skis very well made)

Started competing on one Western Wood made of epoxi glass , had a funnel tunel and Mike's autograph.(that my fathers partner gave me, I was old that time , but I felt in love with that ski)

than went to an EP ProStock made of kevlar.

Stopped skiing and when I started again , the ski was the 9600 Goode.

what a difference !!!!

[bko]

3 defunct brands from Austria (not Australia):

Kneissl (snowski company produced waterskis in the 60s)

Tornado (actually a fashion boot manufacturer called Panzl; 70s)

Pilot (my father and his uncles built skis and bindings in the 50/60s)

 

 

[Deanoski]

ARC releaseable water ski bindings the first hard shell on the market, I beleive ski tech( reflex) came out a yr or two after the Arc system

 

Deano

[PatM]

I loved EPs in my younger days. I have a Comp X2 and a GX3 in my cellar along with my brother's Maherajah. All in exellent condition along with other skis of mine from the past. They line the walls of my man cave. Water skis make great decoration when no longer useful.

[eleeski]

I worked for Kimball for a very short time. Kimball bought the Ajax/Lapoint (Hexcel) molds and tried to get them in mass production. Also Kimball had recently gotten the EP Comp1 tooling. Even though they were cranking out combos by the minute, there must have been more money in making Bart train parts in the compression molding machines. Did I kill Kimball waterskis?

 

I also was a rep for Stinger after they moved to Florida. That didn't last long. Did I kill Stinger?

 

Nobody will ever hire me...

 

Eric

[MBD3]

I still have my Maharajah wood slalom and my Western Wood slalom. Wish I had kept my CG Rampmasters I used skiing at the gardens. I then graduated to Stinger jumpers. Loved them all but after using the Stingers, Rampmasters felt like they were 50 lb weights strapped to my feet.

 

[ArthurSkiier]

Great Southern Skis ....They were made by ex-Cypress Gardens employees. They lasted about 2 years.

[Jordan]

http://images.canadianlisted.com/nlarge/slalom-water-ski_4524172.jpg

[thager]

How could a person ever navigate the course without a map? Great ski but that always cracked me up!

[Drago]

Bad gate

[rodltg2]

What about Daclin? They still around?

[Horton]

@Jordan

Holy crap man. This pic is my childhood. That ski was developed at my dad's lake when I was maybe 10 years old.

 

[tfriess]

looks like AM skis might have copied with the picture above

[Bulldog]

I LOVED that ski when I was a kid. I bet we put 1000 000 miles on one.

[Edbrazil]

From my home town of Laconia, and from the 50's and 60's: Aqua Sport skis. Good laminated jumpers that tended to last. They never could quite figure out a slalom ski that worked well. Had Al Tyll trick skis. Chances are that Ham may remember Aqua Sport or skied on their jumpers.

 

That company (Cove Craft) got you both ways: they also made crutches. Owned by Larry Brown who was once President of AWSA, and also was a key organizer for the 1954 and 1959 Nationals.

 

Didn't see in the listings yet: a K2 slalom ski; very short-lived.

[BruceEmery]

Ah yes, I had Aqua Sport jumpers, tricks and slalom. The jumpers used to crack accross the tips. Even split one down the middle. No problem, just srewed a couple metal strips accross it and kept on jumping. I still have an Aqua Sport Masters Slalom and a Norine Bardill. Also had a Voit Slalom.

[sunvalleylaw]

Memory lane thread! LOL! We have Stinger Trick skis (with blue wrap Wley bindings) down in my Mom's basement, and I almost bought an EP (I think it was grey colored) in 1980 when I ended up with our first Kidder Redline (blue bottom). We never had a cut and jump ski, but had a vest that we called "Cut and Junk" because it ripped up so badly. One of those yellow foam ones. Until recently, it seemed Jobe was a lost brand. I guess someone bought the name and is making skis again, kinda like they are doing with the "Motobecane" name in cycling.

[jipster43]

@sunvalleylaw I have a Motobecane BMX bike. It's pretty rad!