 Elan skis derived from the SCX design | |
| Inventor | Jurij Franko and Pavel Škofic |
|---|---|
| Inception | 1993/4 |
| Manufacturer | Elan |
The SCX, for "SideCut eXtreme" (or "eXperiment"), was an alpine ski introduced by Elan in the winter of 1993/4. Skis before the SCX had almost always used a shape that was slightly curved inward on the sides, typically by 7 millimetres (0.28 in) compared to a straight line running from tip to tail. The SCX was designed with over 22 millimetres (0.87 in) "sidecut", producing a wasp-waisted ski unlike anything on the market.
The SCX proved to dramatically improve turn performance and made it much easier to perform the efficient carve turn. This led to higher speeds in giant slalom, and the ski started winning race after race when it was introduced. It also made skiing easier in general, and revolutionized ski schools, especially in the US where the design first caught on. By 1996 every major ski company was racing to introduce similar designs, and traditional designs were being sold off for pennies on the dollar.
As the first successful "shaped" or "parabolic" ski, the SCX is considered one of the most important advances in the history of the sport.[1][2][3]
- ^ (Economist) 1999.
- ^ Olson 2011.
- ^ Hogen 1996, p. 58.