The Launch of Denali Skis

[Horton]

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2016/Denali_Logo_Black.pngDenali Skis is a new USA based startup in the water ski community with a revolutionary approach to ski design, product support, and skiing philosophy. We at Denali are excited to announce the launch of our new 2016 Denali Ski, now available in limited quantities at Denaliskis.com.

Orders are fulfilled on a first-come first-served basis, and skis will no longer be available when order limits are met. By intentionally controlling volumes, Denali intends to grow organically, focusing on personalized technical support for each individual customer. Visit Denaliskis.com to learn about our asymmetrical fin settings, free-flex binding plate, measure-flat tail, and much more!

The team behind Denali consists of engineers who are also skiers. For several years, Denali has worked off the grid exploring the boundaries of water ski design. With the use of an exclusive rapid prototyping method, new concepts at Denali are drafted to a 3D model, machined into a mold, built and tested - all in less than 72 hours. As a result, Denali has evolved its ski design faster than ever before, putting the new 2016 Denali years ahead of the competition.

In addition to the most cutting edge design in slalom history, flex and torsion patterns are customized for each individual skier. Matching the skier’s size, weight, and ability to a tailored flex pattern provides ideal characteristics to optimize the delicate balance between speed and feel on the water, further improving longevity and performance.

Providing an unmatched level of support, Denali customers will have access to an online community where skiers can ask questions and share ideas about setup, technique, and training. This platform provides customers direct access to the Denali community as a whole, as well as the engineers/skiers behind the ski, allowing for continuous technical support to help all customers take their skiing to a whole new level!

Join the Denali community today, and order now at Denaliskis.com to get your limited edition custom built Denali ski! Skis will begin shipping May 1st.

[SkiJay]

Huge congratulations to @AdamCord and @adamhcaldwell on this major milestone. This is a very cool accomplishment indeed!

[PatRe]

Nice work @AdamCord and @AdamCaldwell. All the Best!

[Wish]

Can't say enough about the Adams and their revolutionary, evolutionary approach to ski design. They are truly the ones to watch in the coming years. Congratulations to both on the launch.

 

No more Hoax

[igkya]

Does it get confusing working at Denali when someone says "Hey Adam"?

[Wish]

@igkya no, it's brilliant. Now you get 2 scientific opinions to any questions.

[Than_Bogan]

I stand corrected. The announcement DID live up to the hype!

 

Fwiw, the asymmetric fin block is not just pulled out of their ass, but is the evolution of an adjustment that many (maybe most) of the Denali Beta Team was using, albeit in a more primitive form where we stuffed a washer under the fin block. It really does work. And while technically the new feature is tunable, I think for most folks it's a "set it and forget it" feature. I don't think it comes with any new burden to get it exactly right. If anything, it might be the opposite: it creates a larger window for the other fin settings to be effective.

 

@adamhcaldwell was messing with me last night and told me they sold out this batch of Denalis in 10 minutes. And I believed him. One possible conclusion is that I am very gullible. Another is that you should hurry up and order one if you want one, because I really do expect them to sell out fast.

 

This is gonna be a fun ride (both figuratively and literally). These guys really do have a different idea about how to make skis and how to operate a ski company.

[Than_Bogan]

Also, that measure-flat tail was invented by (or at least derived from suggestions by) our very own @Wish. Great idea!

[Wish]

And it only took 3 beers...I should drink more often...who knows what my noggin could come up with. All I know is..no more screwing around trying to get a repeatable DFT measurement. Slot caliper optionanal..well, just not needed at all.

[Razorskier1]

And here I was thinking I was going to have a stealthy advantage over all the non-Denali skiers this year! Ah well. Best ski I've been on and support that is second to none! Can't wait to see how the tweaks to the 2016 differ from my current beta test ski!

[Horton]

@Razorskier1 Haaaa you got a early ski and now you will need a 2016. Are you starting a collection?

 

[Razorskier1]

@Horton -- ya, probably. Why not own more stuff, right?

[lcgordon]

how is this ski for the 15offer

[Than_Bogan]

@lcarnes can speak to 15offiness. Pretty sure she loves it.

[6balls]

I may have to beta test @razorskier1's beta test ski.

[AdamCord]

@SkiJay @PatRe @Wish @Than_Bogan @Razorskier1 Thanks for the kind words!

 

We're definitely pumped to finally get this going!

[ozski]

@lcgordon I've spent time on a couple of different Denali's most recently on a mid flex which I think would work pretty well on those line lengths (although I never tried it) The stiffer ski was certainly more at home from -32 and shorter. Getting the correct setup is going to make all the difference regardless of flex, you can count on plenty of support and setup help so go for it.

[gregy]

@AdamCord @adamhcaldwell how is the flex mounting plate fix to the ski? And can it be made with extra set of studs in the front for my XXL reflex plate? Also I'm using a mikro adjust on the front plate?

[Golfguy]

If the skies are made to order for the individual skier and can be made in 72 hours how can there be a batch of skies and how can they be sold out. Maybe I read the ad wrong. It seemed like the ski was only produced when one ordered it? This is a very good idea and could be the future of skiing. Congratulations. Exciting news.

 

[unksskis]

Probably batch of material

[Golfguy]

That would make sense. Thank you.

[AdamCord]

@gregy we can mount the plate with either VHB tape or with Dual Lock. We are running some tests now to compare the viscoelastic effects of each one but we'll do whichever you prefer. The Dual Lock is nice because it allows for adjustability, although some people don't feel comfortable with it, which we understand. We use 250/400 and a lot of it so that it can't release in a fall.

 

We can also make a custom stud plate for the XXL Reflex guys, that's no problem.

 

@Golfguy we are able to design and build new prototype skis in 72 hours, which allows us to iterate our design much faster than any other company ever has. Production, however, is a different matter. We are the ones building the skis (@adamhcaldwell and me) so we can't build skis all day and still support the customers the way we want/need to. By keeping quantities smaller we can provide the support we need to each customer. Also then we have time to do a little skiing ourselves ;)

[DW]

Congrats to the Adams on the launch of your new baby/product. Very cool.

[JohnCox]

Very exciting news guys! Congratulations!

[FLeboeuf]

Congrats! Cant wait to get on this ski!

[AdamCord]

@gregy I missed your third question, yes our plates will work with the miikro-just system.

 

@DW @JohnCox @FLeboeuf Thank you!

[DW]

@AdamCord: You are welcome and on the "FATS" (see the page title & I couldn't resist, sorry) or what you are calling "ACST" does the set screw simply depress against the top skin to create a bump on the bottom side or is there a plate of some sort the set screw pushes on? If yes, then it appears that one could actually reverse it without needing any extra hardware. Cool concept & what type of feedback from the testers has been observed? Also, nice touch on the DFT measuring flat, well done.

[Than_Bogan]

@DW I can speak to one part of that. Several us reached a point during the initial "determining factory settings" phase where we seemed to have a choice: great on-side and problematic off-side, or great off-side and "OK" on-side. The latter seemed the clear pick and we were happy there. But then this "washer" idea came along and it allowed keeping that great off-side and getting awfully close to the best on-side!

 

Roughly speaking, it lets the ski slide more on the on-side while still being stable and predictable on the off-side.

 

Bizarre fact that I discovered by being stupid: Pushing down the "wrong" side also sort of works! The best theory for this seems to be that the outer edge of the fin is most active for the off-side, whereas the fin area matters a little more on the onside. One of the effects of pushing the ski down in the middle of the fin is that it slightly reduces the area while maintaining the out edge profile.

[adamhcaldwell]

@DW - The jacking scew drives down directly on top of the insert and has a larger diameter then the 8/32 insert screw that would otherwise clamp the block to the ski.

 

Funny story.

 

- I was running several clean 39s in Orlando (65deg water, 70 air) on my ski just before Christmas with fin ~25/1000 shallower on the right side of the fin (a LFF setup). So the numbers for depth were Deep-side=2.455, Shallow-side = 2.430. I let a RFF try the ski. Unknowingly to them, I adjust the block to give them the correct depth offset before they went out on the water. Fast forward to 1 week after New Years up in Charleston, I go out and take my first set since the RFF tried my ski before Christmas in Orlando. I was mind-blown, and very confused as I was hardly able to get through my first two passes, and no hope at 38 whatsoever after several tries. I was totally out of control and off balance. Realized upon getting home I completely forgot I had swapped the deep/shallow setup for the RFF skier before Xmas. Next day, I run back out to the lake, revert the fin back to its correct LFF setup (from before X-mas) and run one of the cleanest 38s of my life, and a great 39 in 52deg water with 45deg air. Prior to this ski, I have never run clean 39s outside of April-October.

 

I think @Than_Bogan may be able to chime in on the depth offsets.

 

For the record. @AdamCord Cord and I have measured many factory skis. There is almost always a small 3-5/1000, and sometimes significant (15-20/1000) offset. This is a great thing if you happen to be lucky enough where the offset is working for you rather then against. But terrible if its not. If you ever had a ski that finding balanced turns on both sides was nearly impossible, this depth offset was like the smoking gun.

[Horton]

@adamhcaldwell i noticed the fact that fin depth is almost alway not the same on both sides of the fin years ago. Silly me I just decided to only ever measure the left side.

[adamhcaldwell]

@Horton - Don't feel bad. Seems to have evaded all of us. Including myself. @AdamCord was the one to uncover the untapped potential on this one.

 

I played with edge tuning on the fin fairly aggressively for 3 or 4 years, and I'm sure you have experience with that as well. It works, but not nearly as good as asymmetrically controlling fin area. The downside to edge-tuning the fin is a permanent change, and not something the average DIY tuner is going to feel comfortable doing.

 

Couple more fin innovations in the works, but we wont have them out for another year. Still more to learn/understand first.

[Fehlindra]

Maverick- Goose

give me more fin depth on the left fin

[Fehlindra]

question longer on one side is that static or happens when the ski is on edge on one side?

 

 

[thager]

@Fehlindra You do know that Maverick and Goose flew an F-14 right?

[AdamCord]

@Fehlindra The asymmetrical adjustment is static. There's a lot more info on our website here.

 

@DW we seriously considered "FATS"

[Razorskier1]

I keep feeling like the odd man out. I found the ski to have terrifically symmetric turns without the asymmetric adjustment to the fin. After a couple of tweaks to get the fin numbers where I felt good, I ran clean 38s both in cold MN water last fall and in warm Florida water last fall. In fact, I ran 38 before adjusting the fin at all! It just got easier with a modest change to slightly shorter, slightly deeper.

[Than_Bogan]

Am I right that @AdamCord thought this one up while he was on injured reserve? It's amazing the crazy stuff that comes to mind when you can't ski!

[gavski]

Would running a thin slice of speed tape underneith the base of the ski up next to the fin have a simila effect??

[Wish]

@Razorskier1 you are odd...

[AdamCord]

@Razorskier1 we're not all as talented as you, some of us need to the ski to do some of the work ;)

 

@Than_Bogan it's amazing what you come up with when you're forced to sit out for a season. That being said...I don't want to miss another one!

 

@gavski I'm not sure it would. You still would have the same amount of vertical surface area showing The edge of the tape plus the visible part of the fin = the same vertical area as the fin with no tape. That being said, I've never tried it so it might work. It's very easy to get this effect by putting a washer under the fin block on one side. We had just been putting it through the center screw.

 

This is something that will help pretty much anyone on any ski, and I encourage people to try it out. Just don't pull a Than and put the washer on the wrong side. :D

[ozski]

@Razorskier1 I tried both setups and found I could run about the same number of buoys either way, I liked using the washer but the ski works both sides running a conventional setup. Its a "fine tune" and a nice option to have but I agree the Denali will rip turns on either side pretty much out of the box.

[Than_Bogan]

@AdamCord Sometimes the distance between "carefully thought out experiment" and "complete stupidity" is surprisingly small. Someday I hope to continue that accidental experiment and see if I can learn anything.

[lkb]

I notice that the ship date for the skis is several months out. Is the entire purchase price due upon placing the order?

[Horton]

This whole thing is still a hoax until I physically see one of these magic skis.

[AdamCord]

@lkb we're doing this without any loans or investment capital so charging the full price up front is the only way we can do it. We've already exhausted our own resources getting all of the manufacturing equipment built (2 presses, 2 CNC mills, and lots of other equipment) but we are using this capital to pay for tooling costs, raw materials, etc.

[The_MS]

@lkb Where u been?

[lkb]

AdamCord, ok thanks for letting me know.

MS, hiding out but not close enough to a warm ski lake, you got $1950 I can borrow?....

[Wish]

BTW, the fact that the Adams are not beholden to investors and all that goes with it coupled with pure passion for the sport and a drive make skiers better is huge in my opinion. It allows for better control of product and affords them the opportunity to work with the skiers and make them better. And holy crap have they made me a better skier both in technique and knowledge. It's the total package. $1950 is well worth the price of admission.

[JackQ]

Am I getting this correct. You would try having the fin lean toward the inside of the course on your good side, I.E for, RFF skiers the left side deeper so the fin will be tilted ever so slightly to your right. Could the effect be the tilt off axis more than the surface area? Given that, I may be the odd skier my off side is much more consistent and has a tighter radius. My on side, 2,4 is my week point, if I get an OK 2@38 I usually run the past. Maybe I need to try the setup for a LFF, right side of fin deeper?

 

Jack

[lcarnes]

@lcgordon I am a 15-offer and absolutely love this ski. First time I rode it, it felt like I was cheating...smooth as silk.