Turn Radius

[IttyBittyBetty]

I have a technical question about skis. There's a term used when describing a ski that I don't know the meaning of. It's Turn Radius and it changes (gets bigger) as the ski gets longer. I have an idea of what they are talking about (i.e., a shorter ski will turn tighter than a longer ski), but what dimensions do the numbers reflect?

 

[skigrl27]

It's also referred to as the sidecut radius. The smaller the number is, the better the ski will make shorter, quicker turns. The higher the number - ski would do better on longer GS turns.

I found some good info. googling this topic not long ago - because I wondered the same thing myself.

 

[skigrl27]

found it...

Here's what I found when I googled:

Sidecut Radius When people talk about sidecut, they're talking about the amount of curve in the ski. A deep sidecut generally means a quick turning ski; a shallower cut means a broader carving ski. But to measure "sidecut" and talk about it in quantifiable terms, we need to use a couple of other terms. One of the best measurements for sidecut is the sidecut radius.

Picture a ski, looking down at it from above. It has inward curves (sidecut) on either edge. Now draw an imaginary circle that extends from one of those curves outward. If your imaginary ski has a deep sidecut (very curvy) the circle you draw will be smaller. If the sidecut is shallow (straighter profile) then the circle will have to be very large. The sidecut radius is a line drawn from the ski edge to the center of the circle. Measured in meters, the sidecut radius is the size of the turn that the ski will make when set on edge.

 

[SnowHot]

The TR is the natural "turn" the ski will make at that given length(contact length) with the side cut (tip/waist/tail)

 

[volklgirl]

Did you check out the ski construction sticky at the top of this forum? There's a description of turn radius and a pic showing ski dimensions, plus lots of other useful info.