January 28, 2006, near the top station of the Rax cable car. I was just strapping on very strange skis. They were bent up just behind the binding. Even worse, something like guiding fins were looming from ski tails.
I was not sure whether these "skis" would allow for parallel turns. If not I would somehow slip down on ski boots to the valley 1,000 m below me.
Around me there were just huge heaps of snow covering little trees to witness the world premiere of "the ski with rear fins for direction control" - the RaxSki.
So I pushed off in the powder couloir and about 100 m farther I realized that these skis were actually turning , turning so easy and damned fast!!
Amazed by this unexpected success I made another prototype with bigger fins till next Saturday - that`s the one on the photo.
The 3rd prototype was already equipped with huge rear fins and allowed me to ride down the Rax couloirs faster than other freeriders and boarders.
This made me change my life and -as the first step- find the address of Austrian patent authority in the telephone directory and start learning the strange language of patents. In less than one month I applied for my 1st Austrian patent (March 14, 2006).
Then the powder snow turned into a hard crust and my ski invention was helplessly sliping on the ice.
I needed two years and 26 prototypes to solve this problem. Only a new central fin, mounted in the axis of the ski just few centimeters behind the ski boots, lets you ski down hard and icy slopes as safely as an ice skate.
This high-grip version of RaxSki (having beside side-wall fins just one central fin located very near the ski boots) made me apply for my second Austrian patent in March 2008 and finally extend it to the European patent.The name of our products -RaxSki- was registered by European OHIM on Jan 14, 2011 as our trademark, valid in the whole Europe.
When people ask "Have you invented these RaxSkis just alone?" I will tell them the truth and reply NO.
Yes, I have worked on new, better skis since I was 12 years old but in last 5 years I have repeatedly had good luck, good fortune or helpful goddess - as you like!
If there were no powder snow in first weeks of my testing, if I had not found aluminium L-profiles in a supermarket to be used to fix the ski tail to the ski base, if the patent authority had not friendly helped me with my first application, if I could not test my prototypes on absolute ice in US and France - I WOULD GIVE UP!
But the most surprising fact was, that in 100 years of skiing history I was the first one to use rear fins for direction control. In fact, I have done nothing else but married the ski with the ice skate - is that so unthinkable?
