Monoski

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A veteran learning to snow ski on a sit-ski, using two outriggers

The term monoski can refer to either of two unrelated pieces of ski equipment. It is the device used in Monoskiing

One type of monoski, invented in the 1960s and popularized in the 1970s and '80s by monoskiers like Mike Doyle, is similar to a snowboard in that both feet are attached to one wide board. Unlike snowboarders, however, monoskiers ride with their feet parallel and facing directly forward, toward the tip of the board. They use the same hard plastic boots, bindings, and poles used by skiers. Because of their width, monoskis are most commonly used for skiing in deep powder snow. While the sport was never as popular in North America as it was in Europe and experienced a decline with the rise of snowboarding in the late 1980s, the monoski seems to be in the midst of a revival within the past five years due to an infusion of new technology and new techniques monoboard, especially in Chamonix France and Mammoth mountain USA .

Another device called a monoski is used mainly by people with limited use of their legs, such as people with spinal cord injuries, spina bifida or double leg amputations. A monoski, also known as a sit-ski, consists of a molded seat mounted on a metal frame. A shock absorber beneath the seat absorbs uneven terrain and helps in turning. Modern monoskis interface with a single, ordinary alpine ski by means of a "ski foot," a metal or plastic block in the shape of a boot sole that clicks into the ski's binding. A monoskier uses outriggers' for stability; an outrigger resembles a forearm crutch with a short ski on the bottom. People new to disabled skiing are often surprised to see how much terrain is skiable in a monoski; advanced monoskiers can be found not only carving turns on groomed runs but also skiing moguls, terrain parks, race courses, glades and even backcountry terrain — in short, anywhere "normal" skiers can go.

[edit] History

The first ski devices for people with spinal cord injuries were primitive by today's standards. In North America in the 1970s and early '80s, early "sit-skis" took the form of fiberglass sleds with metal runners. Turning was achieved, if at all, by dragging very short poles or "picks" in the snow. Few users became proficient enough to descend even intermediate terrain without assistance from a "tetherer." By the early '80s, Europeans were experimenting with "ski-bobs" that mounted on two normal skis. In place of today's minimal bucket seats were large fiberglass or Kevlar shells, and leaf springs at first were used instead of shock absorbers. The two-ski design proved accident prone, and it was soon abandoned for a single ski.^[1] By the middle of the decade, the technology had migrated to North America, and on both continents the modern monoski began to emerge. In the United States, Enabling Technologies' Unique, Sunrise Medical's Shadow, and Dan Fallon's Fallonski were some of the first commercially available monoskis.

In 1984, monoskiers took part in the Innsbruck Paralympic Winter Games as a demonstration sport^[2]; in 1988, full medal categories were added for sitting skiers.