Zai, Stone Slate Ski

[Acquire from Zai]

A ski with the mountain built into it.

Handmade in Disentis, Switzerland · Natural slate over ash and poplar · No graphics, no model year

Why it's here

Zai builds skis by hand in Disentis, a village in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, and faces this one with real slate. There is no printed graphic and no season stamped on it. At the resorts where families have skied for four generations, it is the pair that people who know skis recognise at once, and the pair that nobody else in the lift line can name.

The object

A thin layer of natural slate is bonded over a core of ash and poplar, stiffened with titanal. The stone absorbs vibration, which is why the ski runs so quietly on hard, icy pistes. Because the slate is cut from the rock, the surface of every pair is different.

Living with it

This is a piste ski for firm, groomed snow and long, fast turns. It is built to be serviced and kept for many winters, and since it carries no model year, it will look the same in ten seasons as it does today.

Origin: Handmade in Disentis, Switzerland
Surface: Natural slate
Core: Ash and poplar, titanal
Use: On-piste

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