1The first ice skates were invented in northern Europe about a thousand years ago.
2When people began lacing animal bones to the soles of their boots to cross frozen water.
3In 1592, a Scotsman invented an iron skate blade.
4And before long, the sport of speed skating took off.
5These elite-level racing skates are produced by a small company co-founded by a Canadian speed skater,
6a three-time Olympic medalist in short track.
7Every single pair is custom made.
8After measuring a skater's feet, a technician applies layers of wet plaster bandages,
9the same way one makes a cast for a broken limb.
10Only here, each foot cast is comprised of two parts.
11Each cast serves as the first stage mold for a skate boot.
12The plaster bandages take five to ten minutes to harden and dry.
13At which point, the technician carefully removes the mold one part at a time.
14Then reassembles it with elastic bands.
15He surrounds the mold, called a negative, with sand.
16He then pours liquid plaster into the negative to produce a positive mold.
17The sand provides counter pressure so that the plaster can't push the walls outward and distort their shape.
18The plaster fully cures in an hour or two.
19At which point, the negative mold can come off.
20Then the technician mixes up some thicker plaster,
21pigmented to make it easily visible against the dried white plaster.
22He applies it in select areas,
23touching up imperfections and tweaking the shape of the mold.
24He files the toes and the rest of the contour smooth,
25producing the final shape of the boot.
26He labels the finished mold with the skater's name
27and puts it in the storeroom until it's time to begin constructing the skate boots.
28Construction begins with boot lining.
29They staple a piece of genuine leather to the mold,
30pulling it taut because any wrinkles in the lining would irritate the skater's foot.
31Next, they glue on the various structural pieces,
32such as this ankle padding.
33It's made of memory foam,
34so it gradually forms to the skater's ankle and holds the shape.
35The next step is the most technically critical
36because it determines the angle of the skate blade.
37They apply epoxy resin putty to the front and back of the sole
38and adhere two aluminum blade holders.
39Then prop up the boot as the putty dries over the next four hours or so.
40Once the putty's hard,
41they sand off the excess to lighten the skate and round out the remainder.
42Then they begin constructing the outside of the boot.
43First, they layer pieces of carbon fiber,
44a strong fabric commonly used in high-performance sports products.
45They tie the bottom piece around the blade holders with strong thread.
46And bind the layers with spray adhesive.
47Next, they slip a plastic bag over the boot...
48tie off the ends...
49and vacuum out the air.
50This tightly compresses the layers of carbon fiber.
51Now they inject resin, a type of liquid plastic,
52and distribute it evenly throughout the bag.
53The resin impregnates the carbon fiber.
54After a couple of hours, the resin dries and hardens,
55leaving the carbon fiber boot stiff and durable.
56Next, they glue on the outside of the boot, made of vinyl.
57Once the glue dries, they remove the plaster mold
58and stitch the vinyl in place.
59They also take a vinyl lace cover, sew one side of it to the boot,
60and attach the other side with a hook and loop fastener.
61That way, it hinges open and closed for lacing and unlacing the skate.
62The final step is to attach the inline wheels or steel blades to the blade holders.