How “cap” skis have evolved...

Some 27 ago, Salomon took the world ski market by storm when it introduced the first “cap” ski. Fundamentally, the change was purely cosmetic, but marketed masterfully; in fact, it was nothing much than a ski with a seamless one-piece plastic top to replace the traditional “square” sidewalls and top.

At the same time, as if it were in cue with the new French ski manufacturer, Elan launched its own cap ski called the MBX “Monobloc” (Salomon's skis were called “Monocoque”, like the race car chassis...)

Among the rest of the manufacturers, more fortunes were lost than made as they rushed to concoct a “cap” version of their skis, so they wouldn't lose the market share they held to the new craze... 

These days, when I look at ski racing, all Salomon and Rossignol skis, a few Atomic and many others have reverted to the basic rectangular cross section and even the current top of the line Salomon are back to pre-1990 sections, which goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same...