Could this be the end of the images of the Gare de Lyon in Paris with dozens of people struggling to find their way, skis in hand, when leaving on vacation?
Queues at equipment rental companies in winter sports resorts?
Or the procession of roof boxes on the route des Alpes?
In any case, this is the bet made by the Slovenian brand Elan.
After eight years of engineering, it has just brought the first foldable alpine skis to the market. She had tried the adventure with a model for ski touring three years ago, with limited success due to a low number of practitioners. But why did you wait until 2021 to benefit from such technology? “It's a real challenge to have succeeded in making high-performance skis. All the difficulty was in the construction and integration of the hinge. But also to have a simple and fast process ”, explains David Primožič, product manager at Elan, the third largest manufacturer in the world with 500,000 to 600,000 pairs produced per year.
Appointment is therefore given to Tignes (Savoie), where the glacier has just reopened, to test these skis originally ordered by the paratroopers of the army, tired of having to find their skis swung in the powder from the helicopter. .
At first glance, it is true that the size of foldable skis impresses.
They are divided into three parts: two for the board and a third for the binding.
All are however connected to each other.
Elan folding skis
The demonstration of its deployment, warm in a hotel lounge, seems very simple.
Less than a minute seems to be enough in the hands of Elan's representatives.
"The competition in our offices between engineers even saw the winner succeed in unfolding a ski in 12 seconds", smiles David, former world telemark champion.
If the promise is tempting, the challenge at an altitude of more than 3,000 m under a snowstorm and sub-zero temperatures is more difficult.
A quality but expensive innovation
For the first deployment of our skis, which must be done without gloves as the ski retaining “hooks” are small, we have to ask for more help. It will therefore be remembered that the two parts of the ski must be aligned. Then you have to rotate the binding to align it with the board. This is where the two small hooks come to "clip" automatically to secure the entire structure. One press on the ski stop and we are ready to go.
The descents follow one another and we never have the fear that the skis will come apart.
Visually, we don't notice for a second that these are foldable skis.
They are even suitable for good skiers.
Elan did not ignore quality even if they are 10% heavier (6.9 kg for 93 cm folded) than conventional skis.
They consist of a wood core like all the other models of the brand.
On the slopes, we appeal to future ski instructors, curious.
They do not miss a crumb of the dismantling.
“It's not bad, I wonder if the fixation is lasting.
Maybe not for high level skiing, but for people who travel, it can be great, ”summarizes the group of connoisseur friends.
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All that is needed is to make them guess the price. "600 euros? 700? 800? », They launch. In reality, it will take between 1,299 and 1,599 euros depending on the purchase of the complete pack with the carrying bag, very useful, and poles. “We will stay with our traditional skis,” they cut. This is surely the fault of this model which is aimed at an urban audience. “You can carry them like a traditional suitcase by car, train, plane, without paying extra. Innovations are always more expensive. For unique skis, it's not that expensive, ”defends the brand.
In his viewfinder: avoid going to ski rental companies for those who do not have a second home and come to slide regularly.
Finally, after several folding and unfolding during the day, the concept is easy to apply.
It remains to be seen what it will be after a long day of skiing, snow freezing in the bindings and fingers numb from the cold.
