Augment, huh, never heard of them (spoken in new york accent), well kid, let me tell you about them.
Augment is a high-end specialty Austrian ski manufacturer that builds some of the best skis in the industry using only the finest of materials. They make world-cup FIS, Masters, and Junior race skis, all-mountain carvers, lightweight uphill skis, deep snow free-ride skis, and park skis. They are extremely well-rounded and very hard to come by. We decided to bring Augment in this year because they are by far some of the best skis we’ve been on in the last decade and specialty products need to be represented by specialty shops like Boone Mountain Sports. Besides Stockli, there isn’t really another rival across the board for a few of their skis.
Augment was created in 2013 with the idea that, “everybody gets the good stuff” meaning that they use only the best materials available to make the best skis, initially for FIS skiers but that idea has trickled down into the entire line. They wanted to make race stock skis for everybody so that racing was more about the athlete than the equipment and that includes down to handmade junior race skis. As part of that ethos of the brand, all Augment skis are made to give the skiers handmade skis in their own factory using only the finest available materials and striving to have the best finish in the industry.
For the most part, skis are built with many of the same materials, it’s the process in which those materials are layered, glued, interlaced, pressed, and tested that differentiates companies. Augment skis utilize:
-P-Tex polyethylene race base material to ensure only the smoothest glide, performance, and durability on snow.
-Carbon, lightweight construction that guarantees stiffness, in our opinion, not necessarily torsionally, but there is a reason so many ski companies use it.
-Phenolic Sidewalls ensures maximum pressure which translates to great edge grip along with the sidecut of the ski. It is one of the stiffest sidewall materials in the market currently. A benefit of Phenolic over ABS sidewalls is that Phenolic does not interfere with the flex of a ski as much as ABSdoes.
-Glass Fiber Prepregs, a resin that contains glass fiber fabric layers when pressed at a temperature of 120 °C, guarantees maximized strength of the composite and reduces the probability of weak points. Pre-Preg fiberglass and carbon fiber ensure exact cloth to resin ratios versus wet layup.
-Polyamide Top Sheets have an excellent abrasion resistance for reduced top-sheet damage.
-Titanal, we love it, you love it. Titanal helps optimize flex pattern, power transmission, and torsional rigidity in all directions. Titanal helps with stability and dampening as well as vibration absorption. Augment uses various thicknesses of titanal ranging from .4mm to .8mm which is then adapted to the ski.
-Steel Edges, the industry-standard which help with stability, durability and suited for precise sharpening.
Wood Core, Augment utilizes a series of woods when blended correctly, contribute to the overall character of the ski. Wood is what gives skis the necessary flexibility, dynamics, and strength. In most of the Augment skis, you’ll find a blend of one hard and one softer wood in which they strive for sustainable Austrian wood extraction. Augment maintains their wood cores in a temperature and humidity controlled room to ensure that they are ready to bond effectively in the ski laminate.
Ash Wood, a heavy hardwood that is versatile in its elasticity and strength.
Poplar Wood, a lightweight wood that has great load-bearing capacities. This wood is generally used as a layer in addition to heavier, hardwood.
Beech Wood, a very hard and heavy wood. Generally used as a small layer underfoot for binding retention and torsional rigidity.
Paulownia Wood, a lightweight softwood, that is also very strong. Primarily used in Augment’s touring and uphill skis.
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