Tech Talk #3- Structural Failures & Warranty

There are very few things that can go wrong with a composite structure i.e. monoski once proper material and process specifications have been established and are strictly adhered to. Composite structures just don't fail for "no reason" and it's very easy to find out what has happened when one does fail. I went over some of the reasons that we use top quality composite materials from the best manufacturers in the world and in a word, it is "Consistency" or shall we say "Quality Control."

In our ten years of building monoskis almost all of the problems (for lack of a better word) that we have had were related to de-lamination. Breakage is another issue altogether as nobody warranties a ski, monoski or snowboard against breakage as in a 275 pound skier dropping into deep powder and flexing the platform beyond its capabilities. By description, de-lamination is an adhesive or cohesive failure, where the failure is either in the bonding or in the adhesive at the point of bonding.

The most common "de-lamination" is where the base material or top sheet peals away from the composite structure. In all cases, this is a result of inadequate preparation or incompatible materials. To be assured of that, we do peal tests when ever we change something.

Another type of "de-lamination" is the failure of the adhesive at the point of bonding the steel edges or, in our case the aluminum tail piece on a Snowshark. This is almost always the result of an impact at the point of failure and in the past six years has become almost a non-issue as we have had only two occurrences that were undoubtedly due to abuse of the ski. The first was from freight damage where the ski was literally crushed in transit and the second just occurred which in our opinion, based on photos taken, is without doubt the result of a significant blow or series of blows to the tail of the ski that resulted in fracturing of the surrounding material and driving the aluminum piece into the ski effectively "wedging" the composite to the point of failure. (See Tech Talk #2) We have had no edge bonding failures since we went to the one piece full wrap edge six or seven years ago.

We follow strict protocol when we have a product related claim of any kind. First of all, I expect an honest explanation of what happened and if there's any doubt, pictures and then have the ski back for our inspection. It's the normal and professional way to handle this type of issue.

Close inspection always tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We are experienced in composites and always learn from what we see for both good and bad but one thing that we always do is give an honest and accurate evaluation and answer. Work with us and we will work with you and that's how we all learn and improve.