If you can buy Porsche bicycles, Lamborghini hard drives, or spend a day at the Ferrari World amusement park, then why shouldn’t you be able to snap on a pair of Audi skis? You may soon have the chance, given the reported success of the German automaker’s experiment with its Audi Carbon Ski concept. Designed and developed at Audi Concept Design in Munich, the downhill skis were created in collaboration with specialists from ski-making company Head, and the German Ski Association. The result is an ultra-lightweight ski that is said to offer premium performance.
The skis have a wooden core, surrounded by layers of aluminum and titanium, and a carbon fiber outer shell. The emphasis on carbon and aluminum is said to reflect the company’s design philosophy for its automobiles.
“Parameters that have proven reliable over many decades of ski sports were analyzed with the use of complex calculation methods drawn from motorsport,” the company stated. The claimed result is skis that flex on moguls to achieve maximum grip, while also not twisting on icy patches, allowing the skis’ steel edges to maintain contact with the ice along their entire length. Their light weight – 960 grams per ski – apparently also makes them highly maneuverable.
This January and February, skiers had a chance to try out the first prototypes at the Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel and the World Ski Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Feedback from those events will go into further refinements of the skis.
Consumers could be able to buy themselves a pair by next winter (Northern Hemisphere). There’s no word yet on an estimated price.
All photos courtesy Audi.
