The ski glide project

Basics of the skis:

Snow exists with crystal structures and is therefore a difficult material to study. The snow depends on the weather, temperature, pollution etc. It takes a lot for a ski to be fast. It has to have an optimum stiffness and the base must have a good structure. The structure is the furrows that is made by a stone grinding machine. 

The structure is made to decrease the friction between the skies and the snow. The lower friction, the higher speed. The friction generates heat, which is enough to melt the snow which again makes a very thin layer of water between the ski and the snow. This water film is getting thicker further back on the skies and temperature is also higher than at the front. The theory is to remove this water between the skies and the snow so it does not slow down. The friction is also dependent on 
the skiers speed, glide wax etc.

This is examples of skibases with different structures. The picture of the coarse structure you can see quite deep furrows that will remove the waterfilm faster during wet conditions compared to the fine structure on top.