Remember jet turns?

[legalskier]

I'd rather not, but they were all the rage for a (thankfully) short time c. 1970. What in heaven's name were we thinking??

Jet turn: A parallel turn where a bump is taken in compression [i.e. "avalement"] and as the feet reach the top of the bump, the feet and legs are thrust forward around and down, finishing the turn on the valley side of the bump.
http://www.sportsdefinitions.com/skiing/Jet-turns.html

So when people saw stop action pics of skiers at the moment they were leaning back as their feet thrusted forward, they thought it looked cool. Like Wayne Wong, above.

...Ski magazine [had] a cover article supposedly about avalement entitled “Look! They’re Sitting Back!” Joubert and Vuarnet had explicitly said that sitting back should be avoided, but that somehow was missed in the Ski magazine article....Then Hot Doggers like Wayne Wong made the jet turn a signature move, balancing on just the tails of their skis. Suddenly everyone was trying to sit back and “jet” their turns. But it wasn’t easy. You needed leverage, leverage that a higher boot back could provide. So out came the Popsicle® sticks and duct tape to increase the leverage. In the 1970-71 season Jet Stix appeared on the market....
http://retro-skiing.com/2012/02/popsicle-sticks-and-duct-tape/

"Jet Stix".....I know, I know.

Happily, jet turns disappeared about as fast as they appeared. But sometimes you can see some people doing them even today, though not intentionally- they usually aren't conscious of it until their thighs start burning.....really really badly.
Mine hurt just thinking about it.

 

[Cheese]

Thankfully my Dad was convinced that "Jet Stix" were knee breakers so I wasn't allowed to have them. Perhaps he knew it was just a fad that wouldn't last.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I've never heard of either of these things. Good Lord.

 

[Glenn]

Ouch. My ACL hurts just thinking about that.

 

[Nick]

tried to find some youtube vids of this. It's before my time.

 

[SkiDork]

I always wanted Jet Stix. I did have Nordica banana boots, which I wore jeans with.

 

[drjeff]

Cool Wayne Wong vintage stoke pic there!

Just waiting for Trekchick to eventually chime in with some love for the mirrored iSki sun glasses now!

 

[SIKSKIER]

Do I remember?

I sure do.I actually made my first pair out of wood,foam rubber,electrical tape and some safety straps.Boy I thought I was so cool!This was when it was also cool to tape the inside edge of your skis and also your ski boots with white medical tape so you wouldn't scrap them all up.Ya,except the tape would be all crapped up and looked 10 times worse.I was inspired by watching my first freestyle comp at Waterville with the likes of Wang Wong,John Clendenon,and Scott Booksbank.Boy am I old.

 

[lolkl]

I had jet stix.

 

[Nick]

I had jet stix.

Pics? :lol:

 

[Geoff]

Rosemount boots.

The typical ski boot today is about as high as a 1970 ski boot with a pair of Jet Stix riveted to the back.

 

[Smellytele]

Before my time

 

[x10003q]

Rosemount boots.

The typical ski boot today is about as high as a 1970 ski boot with a pair of Jet Stix riveted to the back.

I don't think the Jet Stix were riveted to the boot. The ski boot buckle on the Jet Stix was the only attachment to your ski boot. A few of my friends had them.

The jet turn was related to Jean Claude Killy's technique of sitting back to pressure the tails of his Dynamic VR 7 skis coming out of a gate. The VR 7 designer moved the waist
of the ski further back which allowed Killy to set the back edge. He was able to sit back a little and accelerate out of the turn. The photographers took the dramatic shots that froze the moment and soon everybody was trying jet turns. To accomodate the jet turn Jet Stix and high back boots became available.

Those Nordica Astral Slalom "banana" boots were everywhere. I never had a pair as I could never convince my dad to buy new boots. He said he would buy new boots when my foot stopped growing. When that finally happened I was wearing Hanson Exhibitions.:lol:

 

[legalskier]

The typical ski boot today is about as high as a 1970 ski boot with a pair of Jet Stix riveted to the back.

Yep-

1960s

1970s

The jet turn began to influence both boot design and ski design. Boot backs got higher and higher until it seemed they were right up to your knees. Jet Stix were no longer needed. Ski makers also began making the tails of skis stiffer to facilitate jet turns.
http://retro-skiing.com/2012/02/popsicle-sticks-and-duct-tape/

We can thank jet turns for today's high boots.

 

[x10003q]

View attachment 5073

Nordica Astral Slalom from 1972

 

[wa-loaf]

1970s

Dude, that's the 80's.

 

[legalskier]

Dude, that's the 80's.

I was wondering about that but the blog it was on identified them as 70s, so I thought maybe late 70s. Isn't that when rear entry boots started? In any event, Geoff's right- boots got really high in the 70s. I can remember seeing some back then that were even higher than those!

How about these banana boots-

 

[wa-loaf]

I was wondering about that but the blog it was on identified them as 70s, so I thought maybe late 70s. Isn't that when rear entry boots started? In any event, Geoff's right- boots got really high in the 70s. I can remember seeing some back then that were even higher than these!
Can you find a pic of one?

Now these are 70s! (yikes didn't realize that first pic was so big)

 

[drjeff]

Some of the pics in this thread REALLY have me appreciating the advances in plastics and injection moulding technology, not to mention a better understanding of leg/foot anatomy in the last few decades!

 

[o3jeff]

My first pair of boots were Hansons back in the early eighties. My feet hurt just thinking about them.