Anti-tip-crossing device
Not long ago it was the mark of a good skier to perform with skis not only parallel but as close together as possible. Skis glued together looked cool but all that cool could be undone if the skis crossed, a very real possibility. A nifty remedy appeared on the market called Parablacks that could be affixed as barriers on ski tips to prevent them crossing. They disappeared in a season or two. Maybe because the only thing worse than crossing tips was crossing tips with Parablacks attached. They worked so well they also prevented un-crossing tips. A base with a wire hoop was glued to the ski surface and the Parablack was held on by the black wedge that snapped under the wire. Pop the wedge out to quickly remove the device.
Juicy Tidbit – in 1979 the Canadian demo team performed at Interski in Japan. To add pizzazz to the finale, some genius decided to attach sky-diver smoke flares to the demonstrators’ skis. In advance, smoke flares were taped to Parablacks and a base was glued to one tail of each demonstrators’ skis. At the critical moment before the last run, helpers scurried out, snapped on the incendiary Parablacks and the demo team pushed off in a cloud of spitting, orange smoke. Maybe that’s what killed Parablacks.
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