Searching for Skis Made from Actual Gold
Looking for skis made of gold? We joined the treasure hunt and found some beautiful, bespoke works of art that can also grace the slopes.
Visitors come to our site all the time on the hunt for golden skis. If you discovered Goldskis.com while looking for 24 or 18-karat snow skis, this post is for you.
Gold Skis blog and podcast is a resource dedicated to skiers in their golden years, after the age of 50. But all the readers looking for skis made of gold piqued my desire to find out if a golden ride exits, or if it is ski legend. So, I decided to join the treasure hunt. My quest unearthed some very high-end, beautiful skis.
Can you make skis from gold and can you ski on them?
Gold is a precious metal. It’s number 6 on the periodic table. It’s shininess, durability, ability to be shaped into various forms and resistance to tarnishing have always made gold attractive. It’s been held in high value and used in trade as far back as 4,000 B.C.
The downside of making things out of gold? Pure gold rates 2.5 to 3.0 on the Mohs hardness scale. That means a lot of other things are harder than gold and will scratch it. Gold isn’t easy to break, but it will bend, dent and scratch. So, if someone offers to sell you a pair of solid gold skis...don’t ski on them. You’ll destroy your boards in no time.
Skis made with some gold in them…now that’s another story. Gold is so widely desired that yes, some precious skis have been made with elements of gold. In my quest to find treasure in a pair of golden skis, the clues were not found in mountain shop or gear guides. We dug up historical evidence from resources like Forbes, Bentley Motors and Nieman Marcus.
What skis have been made with gold?
Let start with a pair of skis made for none other than martial arts and movie legend, Jackie Chan. The Oro-Amaranto Jackie Chan Skis were made by a company named Foil Skis and crafted from certified Amaranto wood with 14-karat gold plated inlays, bindings and poles. Forbes wrote about Chan’s custom-crafted skis, placing a $42,000 value on them back in 2017. At the time, a very limited- edition of the Oro-Amaranto Jackie Chan Skis were available to order.
Foil Skis was founded in Northern Italy. Their skis are custom-made by very skilled craftsmen. Co-founder Andreas Pilcher is a designer, artist and well-known film maker who was also a competitive ski racer on the Austrian team. His knowledge of skiing, movement and art helped craft the luxurious boards.
The Oro-Nero is another golden snow ski made by Foil Skis. It was artfully made from 8,000-year-old Bog Oak. The bespoke, shiny black skis were inlaid with the buyer's initials in gold. They too came with gold-plated bindings. The custom Oro-Nero complete with a deluxe travel bag initially sold at $50,000 when the skis were launched just under a decade ago.
Bentley Motors and Olympian Bode Miller also got into making very limited- edition gold- accented snow skis. When Bentley wanted to celebrate 100 years in business and Bode was an ambassador at the time for Bomber Ski Company, the two joined forces. They dreamed up the Centenary Edition ski. It featured 24-karat gold-plated inserts. Designs elements reflected the look of Bentley’s EXP 100 GT. Only 100 pairs of the skis were made. Released by Bomber Skis, they originally retailed for $3,750.
All of these premium, bespoke skis are actually made to be skied.
But if you could...would you?
If I owned a pair, perhaps I'd take one run on a flawless snow surface. Then they would be insured and put on display in a glass case. Although wouldn't it be fun to belly up to the bar at an Après event, park a pair next to your stool and see what conversations unfold?
Hunting for treasure yourself?
You can search for these skis on auction, but given the very limited- edition release they may be very hard to find. We reached out to Foil Skis to see if they are still taking custom orders and will update this post when we hear back.
More about Gold Skis
Let's talk about the gold skis I value. Gold Skis, the blog and podcast. We cover skiing, travel, fitness, and wellness tips, plus senior discounts and pass information, a nostalgic look at skiing days gone by and a dose of inspiration to keep on skiing well into your golden years. The site is tailored to downhill skiers age 50 and older. But anyone is welcome. The best way to get all our skiing goodness is to join the Lift Line.