The Powder Revolution (Part 2)

Dr. Robb Gaffney with the iconic Palisades Tahoe tram face in the background. pc snowbrains

Westward Bound

It turns out that the young medical student was none other than Dr. Robb Gaffney. Gaffney also had a core passion for skiing and after striking up a conversation about the skis in the corner the two hit it off an instant friendship. Deeply connected by their true love for skiing, Robb also introduced MC to his brother Scott Gaffney (renowned ski filmmaker and also a legendary skier.)

In the fall of 1994, the Gaffney brothers convinced MC to go west… to a place where skiers carved out legendary careers. Where mountain faces were so extreme and so rowdy they attracted only the world’s best skiers to give it a shot. That place was Squaw Valley, USA home of the 1960 Winter Olympics and now renamed, Palisades Tahoe. MC needed little encouragement to seal this deal as they headed west to stake their claim in skiing history. (More on this coming in March!!)

Ralph Backstrom studying his ‘G.N.A.R. Manual” ahead of skiing his line, Palisades Tahoe, California 2010. pc unofficialnetworks

But before we find out what happened with MC’s ultimate ski design in Olympic Valley, California, it’s also important to understand the context in which it happened. The 1980s marked a period of massive upheaval in the ski industry with two major design advances coming into play; sidecuts and fat skis.

Where legends are made…The Fingers under the iconic KT-22 chairlift at Palisades Tahoe, CA. pc tahoeskiworld

Sidecuts

The first disruption came in 1984 when an Olin executive had trouble learning to ski and pushed his engineers to find an easier way to turn. Longer skis with narrow waists offered stability but were too difficult for beginners to turn. Out of this project a prototype ski named ‘Albert’ was born, named after the engineer’s dog. It was the first “shaped” ski with sidecuts and showcasing dimensions of 128/40/79 from tip to tail. It held a small turning radius of only 8 meters. (For reference, a short-radius ski today ranges from 10 – 15 meters.) Albert’s waist was also very narrow and couldn’t hold traditional ski bindings so Olin engineers created a special platform to mount them. Even despite these hurdles, it proved incredibly easy to turn, especially for beginners.  The design was a revolutionary breakthrough in ski design.

Example of the revolutionary sidecut design shape with the tips and tails wider than the waist. pc skipass

It wasn’t long after Albert's other sidecut designs started to come to market. Atomic, Elan, and others all chased this new sidecut design. In 1990, Elan released their own SideCut eXtreme model (SCX) which became the first shaped skis available to the public. REI assistant merchant Dan Gilbert commented on the release in another interview saying, “Elan captured the market those first couple years, then everyone jumped on the bandwagon.”

Fat Skis

It turns out powder skiing was another potential niche ski manufacturer looking at ways to boost sales and increase market share. In 1988, Atomic followed through on this strategy producing one of the first powder-specific skis called Atomic Powder Magic with dimensions (133/115/122). Jake Strassburger, Atomic’s commercial manager commented about the release explaining in another interview,

“This was a big deal because, at the time, there were not any other fat skis. They made it easier to ski fluffy powder snow because they had so much more surface area underfoot. They were also much shorter than the lengths people were skiing on in that day, making them easier.” 

The Atomic Powder Magic (1988) were considered one of the first powder-specific skis. 115 millimeters underfoot and drastically wider than most other skis. pc rei

In the early 1990s Volant designers leaped forward of the others when they fattened up their Chubb ski waist to 87 mm, considered very wide at that time. Other ski companies were more reluctant to follow as this size waist was still unproven in the market. Nevertheless, MC continued to work on and develop his ultimate design all while using with what was available to him. In his case, it was Volant’s Chubb skis, what he called his ‘chubby buddies.’

McConkey skied Volant Chubb skis until the Spatulas were produced in 2001. pc ebay

Stay tuned! Tomorrow we’re back to see how McConkey’s career takes off in Olympic Valley, California, and then learn how one run down an Alaskan spine settled the argument once and for all. You won’t want to miss it!!