Ski Question

[454SS]

So this might be a weird question but i figured someone on here would know the answer, I bought a new rs-1 for this season, this is my first carbon ski and was wondering about storing it. I plan on going to work then go skiing afterwards at least a few days a week, my question is if I have the ski in my car and it is a really hot day will keeping the ski in my car all day while at work hurt the ski at all?

[HO 410]

Definitely not a weird question. Ideal storage is a cool place out of direct sunlight. It's not about the ski being made out of carbon fiber, it's about the heat breaking down the resin. That would be an issue with any ski, it's just that the pain of loosing an RS-1 would be more acute than loosing an old CDX. I always used to keep a pair of climbing shoes in my car and the summer heat in my car/oven melted the glue and the soles pealed about 3/4 of the way off the last.

[Old MS Accout]

Can you carry it into work with you? I would not keep it in a hot car. They make those dog kennels for travel that are cooled, maybe that would help.  

[MrJones]

Don't even think about leaving it in the car. I skied on Goode's for years and very seldom had the delam problems that people are always talking about. I believe the reason is that I NEVER left it in the sun, car, or anywhere that was really hot. (or cold for that matter) I even take it in the hotel at night at tournaments, etc.

"If you don't love your ski it won't love you back." Words to live by!!!

[RichardDoane]

If you put a thermometer in that car, I'd bet it gets pretty hot in the sun (over 100'F). If you wouldn't leave a small child, how could you leave your baby in that brutal environment ?

[eleeski]

My desert often gets to 120+F (50C) in the shade - and no shade! Temperature itself is not a ski killer. My skis are room temperature cured and still hold up well in that kind of heat. A black car in the desert heat might get into the 130+F (60C) range - that MIGHT soften the resin and change the rocker on the ski. Direct sunlight on black gets to 170F - I've cured prepreg by just leaving it in the sun! That is certain to damage a ski. I left a black ski in the sun in the back of a convertible for a long drive - when I arrived the ski had completely delaminated (and I have never painted a ski black since!). I no longer heat cure my skis because my 200F heater distorts the PVC foam cores.

Goode and other carbon skis are black - and great absorbers of solar heat. A ski left in the sun will have a hot top and cold bottom. Carbon has a significant thermal expansion coefficient. The hot top will try to stretch while the cool bottom will not. This puts a huge stress loading on the ski and can cause delamination or other breakdowns. Paint your ski white, get and use a ski bag and never leave it in direct sun!

I would not hesitate to leave my skis in a car, however. Wrap the ski in a heavy blanket. It will heat evenly. Don't put anything heavier than the blanket on the ski so even if things get a little soft the ski won't move. Crack a window to keep the heat from becoming an oven. Give the ski a few minutes to slowly cool before throwing it in the water. My skis (including Kirk's Goode) have survived this treatment frequently in more extreme conditions than yours (unless you are from Phoenix in which case it's close).

Running a ski from a cold air conditioned area to a hot ambient day might be as hard or harder on the ski than leaving it in a car parked in the shade.

If the choice is leaving the ski in the car or not skiing, I'd choose skiing anytime!

Eric

[h2odawg79]

Eric,

What desert do you Live in? Mojave?

[thager]

I'm with MS on this one. Can't believe I just said that! I always take my ski inside with me and keep it in my cube and talk to it all day so it treats me right. I'm skiing with MS tomorrow so that's the plan.

[454SS]

Eric, your advice seems good, thats what I'll probably end up doing. MS taking it into work with me would be ideal, but even with a laid back state job I doubt it would fly.

[eleeski]

H20dawg, my lakes are by the Salton sea in California's low desert. I am below sea level. We have a nearby town named Thermal - named for a good reason. We often have the hottest temperatures in the US. Texas was whining about three weeks where the temperature peaked over 100F. During that same time we never dropped below 100F - even at night!

My water will be 95F for much of August. Of course if the breeze has been blowing lightly on a hot day and you set down at the downwind end, the surface water will scald you. Not really - it just feels like an overheated hot tub (105F at the surface). Before we ski the first set we run down the lake to stir up the water to cool it off so you don't get overheated.

The heat stress on your ski going from an air conditioned 65F to 95F water is the same as going from a hot 125F car to the 95F water. Of course, going from my 125F car to Brent's 37F water will destroy the ski - and kill me too!

I was going to edit my earlier post to say Death Valley instead of Phoenix. Phoenix is too mild. The Barstow lakes are downright chilly. Only Imperial Lakes can match my heat.

But it's a dry heat. Of course, when the local park ranger measured a hot day's temperature with a wet bulb thermometer, the heat index was 134F!

I cannot have a black boat, period. Those 08 ZO Mastercrafts are off limits to me - sigh. And I can't get delivery of a new white MC any time soon - sigh.

If it gets too hot for me, I just go home to San Diego where it never gets hot (or cold). But my skis stay at the lake and suffer quietly.

Eric 

[auskier]

how cold do your winters get eric?

[h2odawg79]

Eric,

I grew up in Rancho Cucamonga and spent my summers outside of  Blythe, towards Parker. I did a lot of const. in the P.S. and La Quinta area's in the early/mid 80's. Your right, some wicked HOT in your area!

I keep thinkin' about moving back to Cali. But, have not any ready made opportunities @ this time... I'd love to find some opportunity near or on a ski lake B4 I ski my last set!   

[eleeski]

Water last weekend was mid 70s. The windstorm probably cooled us down to mid 60s. The coldest we ever get is low 50s for maybe one really cold week in the heart of winter. If I want I can ski year round in a light wetsuit.

Come visit if you are in Palm Springs!

Eric

[DW]

Whiners!  Try those temps driving in the oven displayed (it indicated 135 on the brain bucket).  That is according to Eric, balmy Mesa, AZ.

[eleeski]

Mesa is so temperate. 113 is our July average. On those cold 105 degree days, you know you're going to pay for it later to get to that average!

And that's 113 in the shade. There's no shade!

We dug our lake in the summer with no AC - but I was a lot younger (and tougher) then. Three gallons of water per person per day - and no beer until the sun had set (such hardship). Rebuilding the D8 engine was tough - gloves were mandatory or the wrenches would burn your hand. The dozer driving wasn't bad because at least the hot air off the radiator was moving a lot and helped the sweat evaporate faster. Three gallons wasn't enough for the hottest days.

Some like it hot.

Eric