The French sports retailing giant Decathlon has launched an all new type in its stores this year, priced at just £99.
The new Boost 300 ski from the company's Wed'ze ski and snowboard division has been manufactured using an all new process at a car production plant in Portugal, a company spokesperson said.
"It takes us an hour to produce a traditional ski, but with our new production method the ski can be crated in just six minutes, a tenth of the time, which along with other efficiency savings, allows us to cut the retail price by half," said Wed'ze's ski product manager, James De Saint Julien.
The Boost 300 is an entry level ski aimed at beginners and early intermediates, Wed'ze still produce a full range of traditionally produced skis for all terrain types and all ability levels.
However Wed'ze's Director Florence Valcke said the company wanted to drive down the cost of skiing to make the sport more affordable to a larger number of people. Creating the Boost 300 was part of this wider policy.
Wed'ze have a large shop, offices, design studios and workshop in one large building at Passy in the Chamonix Valley so that new ideas can be developed, tested in the studio, labs and out on the slopes and then eventually sold all in one location. Most of the products the company sells have been designed by them. All of the company's employees are part share holders of the family run business which now has hundreds of stores worldwide and are encouraged to initiate new ideas.