HISTORY

Greetings fellow skiers,

Thanks for visiting our website.   We have been around since 1992 making the first shaped skis.   Yes really..  We were first....  We had our skis in local shops in 1992, and at local ski areas as well.  Odyssey Max F/X were acknowledged in Ski Trade Magazines 1992-1996.    We were out there before Kneissel, Elan, Volant, RD or Rossignol.  Although we are not a big manufacturer we have made significant contributions to you the skiing public.  Because we can not afford to market and compete with the big companies we have not been recognized or mentioned.   With the visibility of the Internet maybe we can get our story out to the public.

An avid skier for 40 years and then being plagued with a debilitating disease (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) caused me to design an easier ski.  I was so excited when I made the discovery of the shaped ski that I applied for a patent in 1991 that encompassed all the shaped skis on the market today.

I immediately sought out a manufacturer to share this revolutionary idea with.  I contacted all the major ski companies.  Many responded signing proprietary agreements and then looking at my idea and drawings.   K2,  RD, Salomon, Volant, Atomic, etc..    Volant was even given a pair of my demos in April 1993 under a proprietary agreement.  Then the very next season they  released the Chubb, that was  identical to the dimensions of our demos loaned to them, claiming this was their brainchild.     Every company said they were not interested in the shaped ski design or concept.     I couldn't even talk anyone into making skis for me.    My last resort was to start  Odyssey Skis to make certain all skiers would have the opportunity to ski on this new revolutionary concept.     My original patent, the one I shared with all the manufacturers, encompassed all the shaped skis currently on the market.

As time went by I continued to identify which shape was the most energy efficient.  I made that ski.  It was the E-MAX.  Finally after 5.5 long years of debating with the PTO I  was finally granted a patent on the Wide Short Ski design criteria in Feb. 1997.

Currently some of the major ski companies are honoring the patent on some of their skis.   Hopefully in time all of the manufactures that are making skis with this design criteria will also honor this patent.  My thanks to those of you who have written and given me supportive comments and thanks for my contribution and continue to encourage me to keep the faith.

I have made limited editions of skis and OEM skiboards since 1992 .   I have discovered that a substantially shorter ski can be quite stable at speed, as well as being both powerful and user friendly when an optimum balance of surface area, width, sidecut and flex criteria are followed. Please visit my shaped ski page and find out why..

Try skis in our design criteria and you will enjoy the pleasure of skiing with extreme ease..  

Enjoy your ski season and thanks for visiting our website,

                              Paul Nelson

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Customer Service:  1-360-387-3826
877  Port Susan Terrace  ~  Camano Island, WA. 98282
e-mail: odysseyskis@msn.com