Winter sports athletes have to train all year to be ready for winter. How do they do this without year-round snow?

Plastics of course!

Throughout the years, skiers have found inventive ways to practice their jumps year-round and have often turned to modern technology for help. Enter plastic-covered jumping hills that provide a realistic surface to help jumpers practice their flips, jumps and alley oops.

How does it work? Nordic jumping practice hills are covered with a foam plastic base and a top layer made of industrial-strength plastic strands (they look like fabric for a hula skirt). The sheets of plastic strands are layered up from the bottom of the hill, similar to roof shingles. They look sort of like Astroturf but mimic the properties of the real stuff – a simple spray of water makes the plastic feel like snow under the skis.
Freestyle aerial practice hills use similar technology, also relying on plastic surfacing to provide a snow-simulating launching surface. Aerial skiers shoot down a wooden ramp covered in Astroturf-like plastic and launch themselves fifty feet into the air. The skiers then land in pools of water with air bubbling up to soften the landings.

This training technology is just one of the ways that plastics help make aerial skiing possible. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do if it weren’t for the incredible advancements in performance and safety technologies that have been developed over the years – many of which rely heavily on plastic.

When you look at pretty much any winter sport – freestyle skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, even bobsledding and the luge – plastics have played a huge role in aiding those athletes to perform faster and better. And plastics are critical to advances in sports safety. Think about it – helmets, goggles, body armor, protective gloves, knee braces, wrist guards, elbow and shin pads. Just imagine an aerial skier jumping with no helmet or goggles, or an ice hockey team playing without any padding or mouth guards! World class winter sports competitions like the X Games, Skiing World Cup and Olympics simply would not exist in their modern form without the help of plastics.

So whether you’ve been watching winter sports competitions from the warmth of your living room sofa, or if you are testing out your own skills on the slopes this winter, take a moment to think about just how different our favorite winter sports would be if it weren’t for innovations in plastics.

Yet in recent years skis have made a big comeback. The slopes are flooded with a new breed of skier, a skier who seemingly floats on powder, can carve the most intense runs, and loudly proclaims “This is not your dad’s sport.” Skiing today is faster, sexier, and better than ever thanks to design innovations and advancements in plastics.

In the mid 90s the reintroduction of the shaped ski, an hourglass-figured design made for easy handling and increased speed, gave skiing a new lease on life. These “short skis” were not only lighter but also superior in varrying snow conditions compared to their straight and narrow cousins. Despite the reluctance of traditional skiers, shaped skis were greeted by an eager new generation of athletes inspired by their increased performance and superior maneuverability. Although the shape of these skis, originally made of wood, dated back to the 1800s, the flexibility, weight, and torsion control of the new shaped skis was made possible by the use of modern fiberglass and polyurethane plastic composites.

The shaped ski is bulkier at the tip and tail, creating an angled curve for increased turning precision, without the traditional one-legged stepping approach of old-fashioned skiing. Since skis were originally made of wood, original ski designs were for straighter skis, which meant heavier weight at the bulky ends of the skis. This decreased performance, especially in powder conditions. Enter Polyurethane. This plastic, now used in lieu of wood in the ski’s core, eliminates the weight problem while adding flexibility and fun. Often reinforced with carbon steel or titanium alloy to increase strength and stability, and fiberglass composite plastic to provide bounce, the new generation of shaped skis has reinvigorated the sport. What makes these skis much more than beginners’ toys is the polyethylene waterproof bottom coating that makes for high performance over wet or dry powder.

International data show that although head injuries account for no more than 15 percent of injuries to skiers and snowboarders overall, they are accountable for an estimated 87 percent of deaths. In a recent interview, National Ski Areas Association researcher Jason Shealy, who studies ski and snowboard-related injuries, noted that helmets cut the incidence of head injuries by 30 to 50 percent.

Fortunately, breakthroughs in the use of innovative plastic materials and new designs are making the latest helmet models stronger, lighter and more aesthetically appealing – even to the young and occasionally reckless.

Helmets in History

While we tend to think of helmets as standard safety gear, it hasn’t always been that way. One of the first noted appearances of protective headgear occurred in 1896, when Lafayette College football halfback George Barclay began using earpieces held together with leather harness straps to protect his ears.

The most significant advancements in helmet innovation didn’t come until plastic resins appeared on the scene. In 1939, the first plastic helmet was introduced by the John T. Riddell Company of Chicago. The new plastic helmets proved to be stronger, lighter, and more durable than their leather predecessors.

Today’s Yolk Helmet

Today’s breakthroughs continue to rely on creative new plastic materials. The Yolk soft helmet, designed by Gregory Scott from the University of New South Wales, is an example of a winter sports helmet designed with plastics that combines function with fashion.

Though not yet in commercial production, Yolk’s developers claim that under regular use, this flexible helmet will move, bend and conform to the wearer’s head. The helmet technology utilizes a semi-rigid liner and Kevlar® skin which is impregnated with a shear thickening fluid. When the helmet is subjected to severe impact, the fluid inside uses the impact energy to instantaneously transform into a rigid shell. The protective shell then disperses and absorbs the impact, helping to protect the wearer’s skull and brain from injury. The helmet returns to its flexible state almost immediately.

What’s more, Yolk’s innovative design will allow the user to plug in a two-way radio, music player, or mobile phone to the integrated headphones and controls built into the helmet. For the fashion conscious, Yolk can be fitted with a choice of skins, which can be stretched over the helmet liner, to match the wearer’s personal style.

Should it Be Law?

The National Ski Areas Association in the United States urges skiers and riders to wear a helmet, but until recently, helmet use was uncommon and not widely enforced. Some resorts, consumer groups and sports associations have proposed mandatory helmet laws. What do you think?

Following are some of the ways that plastics have helped revolutionize the sport of ice hockey:

• Sticks: Traditional hockey sticks were wooden, but today, many are made of fiberglass, carbon fiber, aluminum and various composite materials. Plastics have found their way into hockey sticks through nanotechnologies like polymer Baytubes® carbon nanotubes, which create more durable sticks and improve puck handling and speed.

• Pucks: When ice hockey originally came to North America from Europe, a ball, rather than a puck, was used. Early players found that the wooden ball was too bouncy on ice, so they cut the top and bottom off, to form the hockey puck. A hockey puck is manufactured by vulcanizing synthetic and natural rubber – both of which are plastics.

• Skates: Early hockey skates were made of leather with metal blades, but today they use a wide variety of synthetic materials for improved performance and speed. Hockey skates feature thick plastic padding to protect the feet and sturdy ankle support for increased stability, speed and agility. One very visible difference from other hockey skates is a protective plastic cowling made of high-end polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that wraps around the entire lower half of the boot.

• Safety: Most hockey rinks are enclosed by Plexiglas® barriers which are more “impact friendly” to checked players than glass. However, a hockey player’s primary safety measure is the gear he or she wears. Compared to most other sports, hockey gear is heavy-duty and must offer a high level of protection against many immediate hazards. Hockey helmets are engineered with a crack-resistant outer shell of injection-molded plastic and interior plastic foam pads. The outer plastic is vinyl nitrile, which is designed to absorb impact and disperse force so as to help prevent concussions. The helmet is often accompanied by a mask or visor, which is mandatory in some leagues. A visor is made of transparent, impact-resistant plastic, while a mask can use plastic or metal wire—or a combination of both. Other protective gear includes a mouth guard, a neck guard, gloves, elbow pads, shoulder pads, an athletic protector, padded shorts and shin guards – all made from plastic!

Following are the ways in which plastics have helped modern skiers achieve feats not even imagined in the early 1900s:

• Skis: Though the first skis were constructed using the long femur bones of animals and attached with crude leather thongs, today’s models rely heavily on plastic materials to achieve the strength, weight and design required by modern racers and enthusiasts. As the sport gained widespread popularity in the 1950s, skis were still constructed of light wood, usually hickory or ash. Metal skis, especially the Dow Metal Air Ski, became common in the mid 1950s. These skis lacked steel edges and often became stuck in wet snow because wax could not be used on their metal undersides. American skier Howard Head tried aluminum next, but the underside froze easily. Head then fashioned a ski made from lightweight and flexible plastic and added steel edges. As with snowboards, skis depend largely on their inner core for weight and strength. Wooden cores can be difficult to match, but plastic foam yields lighter, more easily controlled and manufactured cores. Today’s cores are primarily made from polyurethane. The outer part of a ski is most commonly made of fiberglass, carbon fibers or a type of epoxy. The bottom part of the ski, designed for contact with the snow, is generally polyethylene. Although a ski appears to be a rather simple piece of lightweight synthetic material, the factors involved in its design are based on complex physics, engineering and materials science. The first considerations are weight and strength so as to glide across the snow. The ski must be strong enough to support the skier in the event of a sudden stop. No matter the type of skiing, be it slalom, alpine or cross-country, plastics are flexible enough to help make skis and skiers the best they can be.

• Boots: The defining feature of Nordic (cross-country) skiing footwear is that it is only bound to the ski at the toe, leaving the back of the boot unfettered. In “classic” cross-country skiing, the boots and toe bindings are flexible and allow the skis to flick and fall in a perfectly straight line. In the early 1960s, American Bob Lange created the first plastic ski boot, which offered greater support and was waterproof. The addition of the adjustable buckle followed in the mid-1960s, making it easier to get in and out of boots. The Italian company Nordica was the first to develop a means of injecting plastic into molds for manufacturing ski boots; this innovation made the mass production of plastic ski boots possible and today they are the industry standard. Comfort is added within the hard shell by applying heat-molded liners that cushion the foot. These and other technological innovations make possible a more efficient transfer of energy between skier and ski. This has allowed skiers to dramatically increase their speed and control.

• Safety: Knee injuries are most common in skiing, so modern knee braces incorporate molded shells of plastic and foam to offer superior support, comfort and durability. But broken bones and head injuries are also a risk in skiing. Today, many skiers use lightweight ski helmets to provide style, protection and a secure fit. In some countries, such as Italy, they are now mandatory on the slopes. Most helmets have a hard, crack-resistant outer shell, made from injection-molded plastic, such as ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Styrene) or fiberglass, with interiors containing plastic foam pads designed to mitigate impact by spreading the force over a greater area of the head and reducing friction in a slide. For example, the stable polystyrene inner plastic foam withstands great force before crushing and helps provide a proper fit.

Following are some of the ways that plastics have helped revolutionize snowboarding:

• Snowboards: Whether they’re designed for freestyle, all-mountain, or slalom events, snowboards share several common elements that enhance their performance. Each has a topsheet, core, outer edge and base. Sandwiched foam and plastic laminates are used as a core for most snowboards because they are more durable and lighter than the wood that was once used. The core is then wrapped in metal, fiberglass, or high-tech composites, such as carbon fibers and Kevlar®, chosen for its lightweight and superior resiliency. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic provides the board’s stiffness and strength. P-Tex polyethylene laminates are added to the base of the board to make it slide well on snow. To top it off, plastic top sheets provide stylish boarders with UV and damage protection in addition to graphic options.

• Boots and Bindings: Boots crafted from durable plastics stabilize leg movement and maximize control of the board by allowing the legs to serve as a steering mechanism. Snowboarding boots are constructed from plastics, such as nylon, that are chosen for durability and a strong weight-to-strength ratio. This is how thin, lightweight shells can still make solid, strong boots. Snowboarding enthusiasts will notice that it takes minimal energy to hike up to the lift and their feet stay warm, dry and stable. Boots are held to the board with bindings often made from plastic.

• Safety: The most common injuries for snowboarders are to the wrists and tailbone. For this reason, wrist guards and hip pads are often used as a precautionary measure. While protecting wrists, hips and backsides, they also help boarders stay dry and warm! Bangs and bumps to the knees also are common during a snowboarding run. Kneepads can be worn in between snow pants and long underwear to help prevent such injuries. Helmets are becoming more common in snowboarding, as they can help prevent serious head injuries. Today’s plastic designs have made them well-ventilated and less bulky. Goggles made from polycarbonates provide safety in several ways: they protect eyes against snow, wind and UV rays and also filter light to help sharpen vision. Finally, a leash is essential to the safety of others on the slopes. This strap that attaches your boot to your board helps prevent it from sliding away and injuring others – even if you take a topple.

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