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Here is a quick look at the break down of Alpine skis.
Carve Skis (70-80 mm wide underfoot)
This category of skis has been very popular for several years now. Once considered the most versatile width, our staff at Kittredge now considers these skis best suited for people who spend most of their time on the groomed runs, or skiing moguls. Our new favorite is the Rossignol Classic 80; it’s a powerful carver with plenty of width for getting off the groomed. The venerable K2 Recon gets upgraded with a new binding that makes it much more lively, and reactive. It’s still the most versatile ski in the class. The Volkl Tiger Sharks are the most precise and have insane grip. The Rossignol Phantom 80 is a nice cruiser that you can relax on, while the Zenith 10 is a user friendly carver for those that love to tip and rip.
Our female testers love this category; they are lighter and find more versatility in narrower skis. The K2 Lotta Luv has been the defining women’s mid fat for several years now. It’s a forgiving and versatile ski that increases your comfort zone. The Fischer Vision Vapor is our shop favorite. It’s an energetic carver that has lots of rebound and grip. If you are looking for a playful ski that that is not too carvey, than check out a twin tip like Elan’s Mo’ Spice or the most wanted K2 MissDemeanor. For a more relaxed ride consider the Rossi Voodoo 80. Volkl’s Tierra loves to carve, and is great on piste or off.
All Mountain Skis (80 to 90 mm wide underfoot)
If you are a good skier looking for maximum versatility, this is the category to look at. These skis combine wider widths with side cut to create skis that are fun in a huge range of snow conditions. These skis range from grippy carvers like the Volkl AC 50 to playful twin tips like the K2 Extreme. If you ski the whole mountain or just wish you could, there is a ski here for you. Boards like the K2 Xplorer and Scott Mission excel in almost every snow condition. Sure, they are not as quick edge-to-edge as a narrower ski, nor do they have the surface area of a wider ski, but day in day out these skis will do it all. Rossignol’s Avenger 82 Ti is the new ski of the bunch, and an awesome snow hugging ride. A ski I must mention is the Elan 888. It may not be as popular as the AC50 or Xplorer, but the Elan 888 has a strong local following, and may be the best ski in this category. Take it out for a slide, and see what makes this a true cult ski.
The 80-90mm waist ski has been an overlooked area of the women’s market. That all changes this year, as the new K2 Lotta Luv is letting it be known that a truly versatile ladies ski needs to have a little more girth. At 82 mm underfoot, the Lotta is really more of a girl’s Xplorer, rather than a “She-con” (Recon). Lotta also comes with a new lighter binding that adds a bit of snap and pop to what was a rather damp and stiff ski. The Volkl Aurora returns a touch narrower, and softer, but remains a serious all mountain ripper. It’s a stiffer ski with plenty of grip on the hard stuff, and enough width to go anywhere. For a more playful freeride ski check out the Elan Free Spice, or the Scott Rosa, both are more than ready for off piste adventures in variable snow.
Big Mountain Skis (90-110 mm wide underfoot)
Stronger skiers who spend most of their time looking for off piste challenges will find plenty of versatility in a wider ski. If you spend most of your ski time on Chair 22 and up top, but still carve up the groomed, this may be the category for you. The Volkl Mantra is a perennial favorite in this category. The Mantra combines moderate shape, wider wait and metal layers to make a very versatile big mountain ski. A similar ski, but a touch more forgiving is the new K2 Backlash. The Backlash is great for ripping steep terrain and natural snow. It is also well appointed for backcountry use, with a skin ready flat tail and lighter weight. Powder Skis (110 mm wide or more underfoot)
The modern powder ski is a huge platform that will give you the run of your life. The big news here is the reverse cambered or rockered ski. These look like a cross between a traditional fat, and a surfboard. Most rockered skis are not especially versatile, and will most likely be a third or fourth pair in the quiver, but if you are lucky enough to heli or cat ski, or just hit every powder day on the hill, than consider one of these big guns. The versatile exceptions are the K2 obSETHed, and Missbehaved. These fat twin tips use “mini rocker” to maintain hard snow performance, while still offering that rocker affect in the soft stuff. These skis may be the future of fat. I have owned a pair of K2 Pontoons for a couple seasons, and they are hands down the best pure powder skis around. The new Kuro from Volkl is similar to the “toon, but a touch wider. We will have all of these skis in our demo fleet, so take a pair out on a storm day, they are amazing. The K2 Hellbent is another insane rockered ski, check it out at P3, our twin tip and board shop.
Twin Tips
Twin Tips are any skis with a prominent turned up tail. This allows backwards (called switch or fakie) skiing, and helps the ski release at the end of the turn. Twins range from mid fat to powder ski in girth, and are often great all mountain skis. Mounting twins is very dependant on user preference. Most twin tips will have a traditional mounting point, and a park point. In general the more time you spend park and pipe or just going backwards, the more centered your mount should be. At Kittredge we carry versatile all mountain twins. If you want a more park specific ski check out our sister store P3. They are just up the road, and carry twins from Armada, Line and K2.
Powder Skis
It may be called early rise, reverse camber, or rocker, but whatever you call it, it works, and we love it. Every ski that we carry with a waist width greater than 98mm has rocker. In a mild form like the “tip rocker” on the K2 Coomback it makes the ski more stable at speed, more maneuverable and less hooky in any snow condition. In powder the rocker really comes to life, and takes soft snow performance to places you never imagined, with your tips always looking to float to the surface. We like Coomback for its versatility. With a crud slicing powder tip, 102mm waist, tip rocker, and light but strong construction, the Coomback could either be your dream powder ski, or an everyday ride. It’s also a great BC ski when paired with a binding like the Marker Duke. More rockered skis such as the Volkl Gotama take this further, and may take a bit of getting used to on the groomed, but offer even more superlative deep snow performance. The “Goat” was the overall test favorite ski. It’s gradual tip and tail rocker takes the shape of a traditional cambered ski bent during a turn. This gives it a very smooth and natural feel on any snow, as well as being an absolute blast in the soft stuff. Several of our testers called it “perfect”. Things start looking a bit wild with skis like the Rossi S7: it’s more versatile than you might think, but most people will use it as a soft snow ski. It skis a bit like the K2 Pontoon (still in our Demo fleet), but the narrow tip gives it an edge in cut up snow, and all around versatility. The S7 is the kind of ski that will make you dream of storm days on chair 22. It may be the easiest and most forgiving powder ski ever. If your budget is little tight and you want a versatile ski with rocker, the S3 is worth a demo. It’s kind of like the S7’s little brother, and a blast all over the hill. We really need to find a better name for this category, as “powder” implies a one dimensional ski for the deep stuff, and these skis are much more than that. Many Mammoth locals use a rockered fattie as an everyday ski.
Junior Skis
Junior skis are finally catching up modern ski design in terms of width rocker, and all mountain capabilities. The K2 Bad Seed has been around for a couple seasons, and is still the widest junior ski around. Its combination of 85mm waist, twin tip and plenty of shape make it an extremely versatile ride. The Bad Seed excels in powder, park, and even carving. Volkl really ups the anti this season with the rockered Gotama Jr. This 80mm underfoot rockered twin is an amazing ski that will have your kid waiting for you on a powder day. The Goat Jr. is quite versatile, and has no problem carving up groomed runs. For tween girls we have a couple versatile twin tips. The Roxy Hocus Pocus is a nimble ski that is great in and out of the park. For more width, check out the Rossignol Voodoo BC 90. It’s a versatile ski that excels in soft snow. We have all these skis for demo this season.
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