What’s in Our Skis and Why

by Wagner Custom / Dec 06, 2024

Last week, we introduced you to our staff and gave you a little bit about the people behind the skis.

This week, we’re going to focus on, well, our skis themselves.

Wagner is one of the only truly custom ski companies out there—and we have felt first- hand the difference a ski built specifically for you makes. They’re just way more fun, which is why we participate in this sport to begin with.

The Wagner Crew and their gear of choice.
The Wagner Crew and some of their skis of choice.

If you’re thinking about getting a pair of Wagner Customs (yay!), it may be helpful for you to understand what goes in your skis and why. Materials like carbon, fiberglass, and metal have huge impacts on a ski’s performance and personality. Here’s what the experts—us—choose to put in our skis and why.

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Wood Cores

All of our skis at Wagner are built with wood cores. Wood is the finest ski-building material on the planet because it provides excellent rebound, dampens vibration, has a lively feel, keeps its shape well, and is extremely durable. Wood-core skis tend to feel more stable, too, and are less likely to degrade over time. There are a lot of flavors of wood out there that feel different in a ski. Lighter-density wood cores, like poplar or paulownia, have a livelier feel and allow the ski to be more nimble. Higher-density wood cores, like hardwoods, are heavy and durable, which makes the ski drive better in variable conditions. Our CNC master, Cormac Bourke, chooses poplar in his snowboard for its quickness and agility in bumps and trees.
Poplar and birch raw wood cores
Poplar/birch cores in their raw state.

Carbon

Our resident graphics guy, Sherwood Smith, uses carbon as a structural layer in his skis because lightness is important to him for getting air on natural features in his home hill of Telluride. Carbon offers tremendous strength without much weight, making it the perfect layer for backcountry skis designed to go uphill and still perform on the descent. On said descent, carbon gives skis a lighter and more nimble feeling, turning quicker in tight terrain like bumps, trees, and technical couloirs. The downside of carbon, however, is that it’s too light to plow through crud and can get squirrely at speed.

Sherwood Smith and his weapon of choice.
Sherwood Smith (aka Woody) and his favorite skis.

Metal

You’ve probably heard of the term Titanal before, which is shortened into Ti in a lot of ski names. That’s the brand name of an aluminum alloy that’s used as a structural layer in skis. Metal absorbs vibration, which makes a ski feel calmer and more stuck to the snow, especially in challenging conditions like crud and mank. It also transmits power seamlessly to the edges, making for a more powerful ski, which is why our chief tuning officer, Eric Mularz, chooses it for his daily driver. While metal can breed confidence and goad you into higher speeds, it can also make a ski heavier, less lively, and have less pop, so it’s really a matter of personal skiing preference.

Titanal in its raw form
Titanal cut and ready to insert into a pair of skis.

Fiberglass

The most common ski laminate, fiberglass starts out as a cloth, but when soaked in epoxy, it becomes torsionally stiff and yet lighter than metal. Skis with fiberglass laminates run the gamut from light and lively to damp and stable—but not quite as damp and stable as those with metal in them. Most of our skis have a layer of fiberglass in it, regardless of any other structural layers.

Pete Wagner skis in Alaska
Pete Wagner making it look easy at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge.

Regardless of what materials you choose, you should know that ours are the highest quality available, materials mainstream brands find prohibitively expensive. We design absolutely everything—the core, laminates, shape, and topsheet—around your skiing style and preferences. We also guarantee every ski we make, so if you’re not 100% happy, we’ll make it right.

For more information about how different materials perform in skis, check out our Buyer’s Guide. It’ll give you all the beta you need to design your own! And if that isn’t in your bedtime reading wish-list, don’t worry. Our ski designers are the ultimate resource. Schedule your call with one today!

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Article by Kimberly Beekman
Kimberly Beekman is the former editor-in-chief of the late, great Skiing Magazine (RIP), and a longtime editor of SKI Magazine before that. She currently uses the title of “freelancer” as a beard to ski powder all over the world. She lives in Steamboat, Colorado, with her wonderful daughter and terrible cat.

Eric gets busy
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