Ski brake

Claim 1

In combination with a ski having a top face, a bottom face and a pair of longitudinal side faces, and a ski binding having a front and a rear unit for releasably holding a ski boot on the top face of a ski, a ski brake for slowing down and stopping the movement of the ski when, during skiing, the boot slips out of the ski binding, said ski brake comprising a mobile member of plastic material having at low temperatures a high resistance against bending, said member being substantially U-shaped and havng a portion extending transverse to the longitudinal direction of the ski and two elongated prongs each integral at one end with and projecting from said transverse portion towards the front end of the ski and located laterally and closely adjacent to the respective side face of the ski, said mobile member being, when the boot of the skier is held by the ski binding against the top face of the ski, in an inactive position in which said transverse portion is located between a front portion of the sole of the ski boot and the top face of the ski while said elongated prongs extend substantially parallel to and adjacent to the respective side faces of the ski in the region of the top face of the latter, said mobile member being movable, when the boot slips out of the binding, from said inactive to an active position in which said transverse member and said prongs are tilted with respect to said top face so that the free end portions of said prongs will project beneath the bottom face of the ski to dig into the snow beneath the latter; and biasing means for biasing said mobile member from said inactive to said active position and comprising a leaf spring fixedly attached at one end to said transverse portion and at the other end to the top face of the ski in the region of the front unit of the ski binding.