Revolutionary ski may change the industry
Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 10:23AM By Matt Boxler
Screaming at terminal velocity down a hilly rollerblade path along New York State’s lower Hudson River valley, Anton Wilson made a liberating decision.
He let go.
He let go of the urge to brake, to panic, to fight the inevitable gravitational forces that always win on planet earth. Instead, he allowed the redefined laws of his new planet – “Planet Anton” – to set him free.
In those moments of pure joy, Wilson, then 50, was no longer rollerblading at breakneck speed on the verge of breaking his neck. He was soaring in full flight, banking turns like a jet, hugging the road like a highly tuned racing motorcycle. It was a sensation the struggling skier recalled instantly on his first run that following winter.
“I was scraping, then releasing, changing directions, scraping again,” Wilson recalls of a typical ski day for him 10 years ago. “I had this déjà vu sensation that I was going down that rollerblade path and, in essence, I had my brakes on the whole time.”
Wilson looked around and saw everyone else on the slopes doing the same thing – sliding, skidding, scraping, repeating. Everyone, that is, but the expert skiers who were engaged in full freefall with big grins on their faces. These elite athletes were literally flying down the mountain, banking turns in a continuous motion. They were, Wilson says, participating in an entirely different sport than everyone else on skis.
The highly successful engineer, inventor and filmmaker wanted to replicate that rollerblading sensation on skis and make it available to the non-elite among us. Now 60, Wilson’s Anton Glider is poised to revolutionize the industry with a ski runner/suspension system that incorporates the concepts of ice skating and flying into the sport of skiing. The Glider, Wilson says, allows absolutely anyone to experience the feeling of carving turns like professional racers beginning on Day 1.
Fear Factor
The most important aspect of the Anton Glider design, Wilson says, is that it puts people at ease on the slopes. Fear and lack of progress are two of the main reasons almost nine out of 10 first-time skiers do not return for a second go around.
The lightweight Glider’s narrowness (75 cm at the tip and tail and just 35 cm at the waist) creates a nearly frictionless, blade-like “runner.” Gliders can experience all the joys of banking angulated turns on gentler pitches and at relatively low speeds, eliminating fear from the experience. They are quite literally skating down the mountain on a stable and forgiving “blade.”
“Using Anton Gliders on a green circle slope at a moderate speed, a beginner or intermediate recreational skier can have the same freefall sensual experience and the same exhilarating g forces in a turn as an expert skier going more than three times as fast down a black diamond run,” Wilson says. “Moreover, unlike the typical recreational skier who is incessantly scraping off 75-90 percent of the slope energy, an expert skier on the most difficult terrain and a beginner/intermediate Anton Glider on the easiest terrain both scrape off almost nothing.”
Traditional ski teaching technique teaches a skidded turn first, but skidding must be unlearned later in order to achieve expert-level carved turn technique, says Seth Masia, former technical editor of SKI magazine, product manager for K2 Corp. and now a PSIA Level III instructor. “The Anton Glider carves at low speeds and low edge angles, so newcomers learn the power and grace of the carved turn on the first day,” Masia says. “Moreover, the Glider carves nicely, even on boilerplate ice.”
No ‘Spot,’ All Sweet
Even with today’s “technologically advanced” shaped skis, only true experts possess the athletic ability and technique to fully “load” the length of the turning edge in order to carve efficiently without sliding or scraping. The expert is able to locate that “sweet spot” underfoot amidst continually changing speeds, snow conditions and terrain.
It is literally impossible for beginners on gentler terrain to “load” the traditional ski in order to carve a turn. The Anton Glider, with its unique G-Spring suspension system, effectively “pre-loads” the entire length of the runner (optimum manufactured lengths range from 140-155 cm). This suspension system is fixed to the runner at the center, and via spring-loaded struts to mounting swivels about 50 cm toward both the tip and tail. Beginner skiers literally cannot make a mistake in stance. It effectively increases boot-size to a full meter in length, making the so-called “sweet spot” impossible to miss.
“There is no spot, it’s all sweet,” Wilson says. “The instant you go into a turn, as soon as you’ve angulated one degree, your tip and tail are fully loaded.”
The Glider allows people to experience the joy of laying down parallel, pencil-line carves in the snow at very gentle pitches, eliminating the fear of going too fast. There is no more weighting and unweighting, skidding or scraping, only pure carving. Looking at the Glider’s lines in the snow, evidence of any edge change is imperceptible.
Ready for lift-off
With one patent issued and three more pending, Wilson is currently in negotiations with several companies to manufacture the labor-intensive Gliders. He currently has several dozen prototypes scattered strategically at resorts on both the west and east coasts.
There is a pilot instructional program initiated at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen. Wilson spent considerable time last season with ski instructors at Bretton Woods, N.H. and Sunday River, Maine, where the Glider was met with great enthusiasm.
And who wouldn’t be enthusiastic about learning to fly?
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Reader Comments (1)
Anton,
Thanks for your thoughts.
I saw your site and the links to great coverage … on CNBC especially. Congrats!
-Matt
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From: ANTONSNOW@aol.com [mailto:ANTONSNOW@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 5:48 PM
To: Matthias Boxler
Subject: Thanks again
Hi Matt-
Thanks again for a great article about the Gliders. Bill made a beautiful reprint that is working well for us.
This year got to a slow start due to a supplier problem, but it seems we are starting to pick up speed. (see: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=220827569) I'll keep you posted as things develop.
All the best, Anton