Adjustable flex ski

Claim 1

An adjustable flex ski comprising: a ski body including a foam core, upper and lower load-bearing surfaces, sidewalls, and a neutral plane, and having a center section, a shovel section and a tail section; and first, second and third elongate flexible tensile members slidably embedded in said foam core below the neutral plane of the ski and located respectively in said center, shovel and tail sections of said ski, each of said tensile members having opposite ends and being affixed to the ski at said opposite ends of the member, and further comprising three tension adjustment means associated respectively with said tensile members, each of said tension adjustment means including a thrust plate embedded in said foam core, a hollow housing abutting said thrust plate, a tensile member anchor slidably engaged in said housing and affixed to one end of the respective tensile member, a threaded shaft engaged in said anchor and passing through said thrust plate for effecting longitudinal displacement of said anchor in said housing with consequent stretching or relaxation of the tensile member, and manually operable drive means opening on the exterior surface of one of said sidewalls of said ski body for effecting rotation of said threaded shaft, said tension adjustment means being operable to selectively vary the tension in the tensile members, whereby the flex pattern of the ski as determined by the levels of tension in said tensile members may be selectively varied by adjustment of said tension members.