Custom Ski/Snowboard Topsheet



Custom ski topsheets, featuring Starry Night

Going into last winter, I bought a set of skis and bindings off craigslist at the advice of my brother. It would be my first set of skis, and despite being fat powder skis when we've had two consecutive winters here in Tahoe with no good powder, they have proven to be a really good and versatile set of skis.

The one problems was that, as part of K2's "Iron Maiden" series, the topsheet graphic was covered in skulls and a giant demon skeleton clutching a helicopter. I'm not much into heavy metal, so I wanted to make a change. I did some searching for companies that did custom ski wraps, and what I found was that they were using the same vinyl used for car graphics. I put out some request for quotes to various speciality printing sites but, in the end, the local sign shop had the cheapest price for a full-color, 12x72", UV-stable and scratch-resistant vinyl adhesive graphic using some pretty cool material from 3M.

So then, what to do about a design? I'm not a graphic artist, but I can manage some simple designs. I thought about doing a custom logo, or doing something really nerdy like making the graphic look like a big printed circuit board, but in the end I decided that an impressionist painting would do the job well- speciffically Starry Night by Van Gogh.


Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

In order to blow up the graphic to the required 72" length, I grabbed the highest resolution jpeg I could find, then vectorized it using a free online program called Vector Magic. The resulting vectorized version of Starry Night could then be expanded to any size without pixelation, and the program maintained most of the complexity of the painting. 



Vectorized Starry Night

Since skis are long and thin, some section of the painting would have to be chosen. I mocked up some shapes in PowerPoint to look like cutouts of skis, and then moved them around the painting until I found a section I liked.



Ski-shaped cutouts using PowerPoint

Finally, I clippled the vector image to the 1x6 aspect ratio I needed for the print, saved it as a pdf, and then emailed the pic to the local sign shop.



Graphic sent to the print shop

With the graphic sent off for printing, some prep work needed to be done to the skis. Rather than cutting the graphic out around the bindings, I removed them so I could work with a flat surface. Its not good to remount bindings to skis over and over, as it will weaken the material, but this would be the first remount in the same holes, so I was willing to take the chance.



Remove the bindings

As I've said, this is my first pair of skis and, as such, they've seen some wear and tear. I used a razor blade to clean up any burrs or cuts along the edge of the ski, to make as smooth a surface as possible. Then, I lightly ran some sandpaper over the surface to remove any further defects.

Use a razor blade to clean up any top edge cuts or scrapes

With a final cleaning, the skis are ready to have the graphics applied. Rather than two long skinny prints, I just had a single graphic printed, so it had to be cut in half to make it possible to apply it to one ski at a time. I marked it out with a ruler and then cut it with scissors.

Mark out the center-line and cut the graphic



Two equal halves

3M's Controltac material is actually really easy to apply. Glass microbeads in the adhesive allow the vinyl to be moved around without sticking to anything and then once pressure is applied, the glass beads sink into the adhesive and the vinyl will stick. Even so, an extra set of hands helps with the next part. I laid the graphic out next to the ski to make sure everything would align correctly. Then I removed the backing and, with a second person holding the opposite end, laid the vinyl on top of the ski.

Covering up the scroll and skulls

They make special tools for smoothing out vinyl graphics, but any flat, dull plastic edge will work fine. 3M's material has air channels in it to allow air in bubbles to escape, so its fairly straightforward to get everything laying right.


Smooth out the vinyl

I next folded the vinyl over and carefully stretched and pressed the vinyl, working around the edges.

Carefully fold and press the edges.

Using a razor and following the contour of the ski's metal edge, I cut the excess vinyl away. The tips at the front and back of each ski required careful attention- the vinyl is not quite stretchy enough to be smoothly adhered around the tight radius, but with some work they turned out ok.

Use a razor to cut away excess vinyl

Heat helps the vinyl reshape itself to the surface, so using a hair dryer, I slowly warmed all the edges, especially around the tips.

The vinyl can take a surprising amount of heat, professionals use heat guns much hotter than hair dryers

With that, the graphic application is complete. The bindings were remounted, and I checked to make sure the screw holes were still solid, which they were.

Graphics applied to both skis, with bindings remounted

One more shot, a little closer

I used them for the first time this weekend. As expected, there are some nicks in the vinyl around the front edges and the inside edges near the bindings. Between lift lines and the fact that I still get my skis crossed once in awhile I knew the edges would get beat up, but for the most part it seems like the vinyl is in pretty good shape over the main surface of the ski.