Snow ski assemblies

Abstract

A snow ski assembly is provided for use by an individual to slide across a snow covered surface, for example, under the force of gravity. The assembly includes a ski having a bottom wall for engaging the snow covered surface and an upturned peripheral region extending around a perimeter of the bottom wall. The bottom wall of the ski includes at least one control structure extending across at least a portion of the bottom wall, where the at least one control structure is configured to control a movement of the ski on the snow covered surface. The assembly also includes a mounting feature configured to couple a binding to the bottom wall of the ski, such that the individual can position a foot in the binding and use the ski to slide across the snow covered surface.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A snow ski assembly for use by an individual to slide across a snow covered surface, the snow ski assembly comprising:
 a ski configured to slide across a snow covered surface, the ski including a bottom wall for engaging the snow covered surface and an upturned peripheral region extending at least partly around the bottom wall, wherein the bottom wall of the ski includes at least one control structure extending across at least a portion of the bottom wall, the at least one control structure configured to control a movement of the ski on the snow covered surface; and   a mounting feature configured to couple a binding to the bottom wall of the ski, such that an individual can position a foot in the binding and use the ski to slide across the snow covered surface.   
     
     
         2 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control structure includes at least one recess defined in the at least a portion of bottom wall of the ski. 
     
     
         3 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one recess defines a depth, and wherein the depth of the at least one recess varies across said at least a portion of the bottom wall. 
     
     
         4 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control structure includes at least one protrusion extending away from the bottom wall of the ski. 
     
     
         5 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one protrusion defines a height, and wherein the height of the at least one protrusion varies across said at least a portion of the bottom wall. 
     
     
         6 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control structure includes at least one edge configured to engage the snow covered surface to control the movement of the ski on the snow covered surface. 
     
     
         7 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control structure extends across the bottom wall of the ski and is disposed at least partly in the upturned peripheral region. 
     
     
         8 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one control structure extends to an outer edge of the ski. 
     
     
         9 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control structure is generally linear. 
     
     
         10 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control structure is generally curved. 
     
     
         11 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall of the ski defines a thickness, and wherein the thickness varies across the bottom wall of the ski. 
     
     
         12 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the mounting feature is a first mounting feature and the biding is a first binding; and
 wherein the snow ski assembly further includes a second mounting feature configured to couple a second binding to the bottom wall of the ski, such that the individual can position one foot in the first binding and one foot in the second binding and use the ski to slide across the snow covered surface.   
     
     
         13 . The snow ski assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control structure includes multiple control structures, and wherein at least one of the multiple control structures defines a recess and at least another one of the multiple control structures defines a protrusion. 
     
     
         14 . A snow ski for use by an individual to slide across a snow covered surface, the snow ski comprising:
 a bottom wall for engaging a snow covered surface, the bottom wall including at least one recess extending across at least a portion of the bottom wall, the at least one recess configured to control a movement of the snow ski on the snow covered surface; and   an upturned peripheral region extending at least partly around a perimeter of the bottom wall to facilitate sliding movement of the snow ski across the snow covered surface.   
     
     
         15 . The snow ski of  claim 14 , further comprising a first mounting feature configured to couple a first binding to the snow ski for use in positioning a first foot of an individual on the snow ski, in the first binding, and a second mounting feature configured to couple a second binding to the snow ski for use in positioning a second foot of an individual on the snow ski, in the second binding, so that the individual can stand on the snow ski and slide across a snow covered surface under the force of gravity. 
     
     
         16 . The snow ski of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one recess includes at least one edge configured to engage the snow covered surface to control the movement of the snow ski on the snow covered surface. 
     
     
         17 . The snow ski of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one recess extends across the bottom wall and is disposed at least partly in the upturned peripheral region. 
     
     
         18 . The snow ski of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one recess extends to an outer edge of the ski defined by the upturned peripheral region. 
     
     
         19 . The snow ski of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one recess is generally linear. 
     
     
         20 . The snow ski of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one recess is generally curved.