The Snowboard Take-Over
It was the mid 1990’s and the ski industry had just seen the transition from straight skis to skis with sidecuts and turning radius’. With this, the ‘carving’ era of skiing was born. But skiing had become stagnant. No matter how well skis were able to turn thanks to the new shapes that were being developed, there was a bigger threat to the sport – snowboarding. By the mid 90’s snowboarding had gained an immense amount of traction and attracted a vast majority of the ‘cool’ young kids.
This had impacted the ski industry heavily. It goes further than the sales side of skis vs. snowboards as well. In 1997, the very first winter X-Games was being held – with no forms of skiing on the list. Snowboarding was clearly winning on the marketing side as well. The image of this sport was planted into the minds of more people and it was the new, fresh way of getting from the top of the mountain to the bottom.
In the 90’s, terrain park as we know them today, were something exclusively for the snowboarders. For the most part, having it be an exclusive place on the mountain worked. However, the freestyle skiers at the time, mostly mogul skiers (ski ballet can be left out here), were working their way into these parks to have a taste. This sparked interest and ignited the desire for skiers to be able to have their own special made equipment for this kind of terrain.
The Idea
The idea was thought up by a couple Canadian mogul ski coaches – Mike Douglas and Steve Fearing. They wanted a ski that would allow their mogul athletes (and themselves) to be able to ski the terrain parks of the time and push the boundaries of freestyle skiing. At the time, freestyle skis did exist, however, they were essentially snow blades which seriously limited the magnitude of the tricks that were able to be performed. Essentially everyone involved in the freestyle ski community was pressing for a more capable ski. Developing and creating an entirely new rendition of a ski wasn’t a simple process. Numerous companies shot down the initial promo video titled “Air Carving”, and it appeared the dream to develop a new style of ski had vanished. It wasn’t until Salomon replied with a yes that the idea became a reality. And so, the 1080 was born.
The Impact of the Ski
Salomon had hit a home run with the ski. The 1080 certainly became more than the sum of it’s parts as it totally flipped skiing on its head. The true freestyle movement had begun, and new school skiing was taking the fight back to snowboarding. The success of the Salomon 1080 blew up the market. The freestyle ski community had what they needed and as a result – and viewing Salomons success many existing companies, and new companies began to take the twin tip design and play around with it. It’s hard to imagine where skiing, especially freestyle skiing would be today if it weren’t for the developments of the Salomon 1080.
The Ski Itself
Being the catalyst for the freestyle movement, Salomon kept the 1080 in the line-up for many years. From 1998 to 2007 the 1080 was Salomon’s most predominant park and freestyle ski. The ski was built up with Salomons ‘Spaceframe’ construction. Having a modern look at this ski may show that this ski wouldn’t hold up to today’s standards. A composite core surrounded by cap construction – certainly not one of the most durable skis out there, but let’s remember this ski is from 1998. The sidecut was respectable for a freestyle ski coming in at 114-80-108, with a 14 meter radius. Over the lifespan, the 1080 never saw a complete overhaul. It was like an American Car company holding onto one its former darling children, even though they knew it eventually grew old and tired they didn’t want to see it go. 2007 marked the end of the 1080 reign in the market, with the Salomon Foil taking over for the 2008 season.
The Final Take
The Salomon 1080 is a legendary ski – not only for what it allowed people to do on the hill, but how it shaped and morphed the industry into what it is today. A true catalyst to the freestyle movement. A ski that pushed and pressured industry leaders to follow suit simply to keep up and a ski that caused the formation of countless small brands. The Salomon 1080 may just be the most important ski to have ever been created.
https://www.salomon.com/en-ca/athlete/mike-douglas, https://www.newschoolers.com/reviews/847/1080 , https://www.freeride.com/gear/skis/2008/salomon/ , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKkyygSGa0U , http://solomon1080.wikidot.com/how-to-edit-pages , https://www.xgamesmediakit.com/read-me
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