2025 Men’s All-Mountain West Skis
2025 Men’s All-Mountain West Skis
If there is a single, do-it-all ski – particularly for western, big-mountain skiing – it no doubt lives in this category. The reason is simple: up to this girth (95mm-100mm), these relatively wide skis don’t feel fat underfoot, so they ride the groom like a Frontside ski yet provide as much flotation in powder as possible without the width being a negative when the powder is gone. Manufacturers recognize the importance of this genre and therefore give it their very best effort, creating a rich array of options for the high performance skier. It’s remarkable that one category can contain so many different sensations and almost every ski is really, really good. Pay attention to this category, Dear Reader, for if you don’t already own an All-Mountain West ski, you will.
A mere 25 years ago we would have choked on these words, as skis 100mm underfoot then were niche models positioned as ideal for Alaskan heli-guides. The evolution that has taken place in the interim was triggered by the arrival of the Völkl Mantra in 2006, at first in the slightly more svelte waist width of 94mm. As with most Völkls made for men, then as now, there was no skimping on the quality of the construction: the Mantra was a rich, powerful ski right out of the chute. It performed like a soft GS race ski, but in a width that tracked through powder like the blitzkrieg, taking no prisoners. It quickly found a following due to Völkl’s already swollen ranks of faithful adherents, attracting the attention of every other major brand. (Nothing engenders a wave of imitators quite like creating a new niche with a high price tag.)
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If there is a single, do-it-all ski – particularly for western, big-mountain skiing – it no doubt lives in this category. The reason is simple: up to this girth (95mm-100mm), these relatively wide skis don’t feel fat underfoot, so they ride the groom like a Frontside ski yet provide as much flotation in powder as possible without the width being a negative when the powder is gone. Manufacturers recognize the importance of this genre and therefore give it their very best effort, creating a rich array of options for the high performance skier. It’s remarkable that one category can contain so many different sensations and almost every ski is really, really good. Pay attention to this category, Dear Reader, for if you don’t already own an All-Mountain West ski, you will.
A mere 25 years ago we would have choked on these words, as skis 100mm underfoot then were niche models positioned as ideal for Alaskan heli-guides. The evolution that has taken place in the interim was triggered by the arrival of the Völkl Mantra in 2006, at first in the slightly more svelte waist width of 94mm. As with most Völkls made for men, then as now, there was no skimping on the quality of the construction: the Mantra was a rich, powerful ski right out of the chute. It performed like a soft GS race ski, but in a width that tracked through powder like the blitzkrieg, taking no prisoners. It quickly found a following due to Völkl’s already swollen ranks of faithful adherents, attracting the attention of every other major brand. (Nothing engenders a wave of imitators quite like creating a new niche with a high price tag.)
Driving the success of this genre is the eternal hope that part of the do-it-all equation will be a generous dose of fresh, deep powder. If you eliminate powder, and its evil twin, crud, from the mix of conditions in which you’ll use the ski, there’s no compelling reason to increase the ski’s flotation. But unless you live at the base of the ski resort, you can’t be sure what you’ll encounter on a big mountain; if a pocket of powder suddenly becomes available, wouldn’t you rather be on a ski that will embrace the situation? This is the mentality that has persuaded an increasingly large percentage of the market to gravitate to this genre.
Most, if not all, widely promulgated online ski tests would include under the All-Mountain West heading skis up to 110mm underfoot. Their inclusion is, in part, driven by the manufacturers, who want to increase the number of star products in this critical genre. But we believe bundling models on either side of the 100mm divide ignores a vital distinguishing trait: narrower skis put less strain on the skier in every condition but powder/crud. Sure, young bucks who log countless miles on western slopes use 108’s (and wider) as their everyday ski, God bless them. But we feel that the skis between 101 and 113mm underfoot should be treated as Big Mountain models that transparently sacrifice certain hard snow behaviors to achieve greater flotation – and presumed ease – in unbroken snow.
Within any genre there are skis that are curl-in-your-lap pussycats – our Finesse Favorites – and skis that are relentless fall-line predators, which we collect into our Power Favorites. The key virtue of the former is they improve ease and terrain access for less aggressive, lighter weight or lower skill skiers. The archetypical trait of the Power posse is they are utterly unflappable no matter where you go or how fast you go once you get there. It bears mention that the best Power skis also feel incredibly easy to ski for the experts for whom they are made, and the best Finesse skis must include some Power traits to stand out in this crowded field.
There isn’t a line of copy in any ski supplier’s brochure that would suggest their All-Mountain West ski possesses a single limitation, but this untempered enthusiasm conveniently overlooks a critical factor, namely the prospective skier’s skill level.
To be brief, anyone who would not classify himself or herself as advanced is looking behind the wrong door. To be less brief, if you don’t regularly tip the ski to a high edge angle, if you don’t ski with your feet extended away from your body, if you don’t have separation between the central angle of your upper body and the median that runs from your hips to your feet, if you don’t ski comfortably at speed, then you should look for a Frontside ski that will help you develop these skills.
The problem is that if a lower-skill skier acquires a model with a 100mm waist too early in his/her development, forward progress will freeze, slow down or even regress as the wider ski proves too cumbersome to tilt. The skier will probably feel better in powder and crud, but that’s about the extent of the benefits.
The 2025 Men’s All-Mountain West Field
All unisex All-Mountain West models, whether new or returning, biased towards Power or Finesse properties, lightweight or burly, strive to serve two masters by providing enough surface area to facilitate off-piste skiing while retaining basic carving skills for when the off-trail is off-limits. AMW Finesse models focus on making off-road terrain easier to tame for less aggressive skiers, while Recommended Power skis come alive at higher revs. Once infused with speed, the top Power skis don’t so much float over choppy terrain as demolish it.
Make no mistake about it, the tone of the All-Mountain West field was set by a quintet of Power skis that established a sustained level of excellence for roughly a decade: the Blizzard Bonafide 97, Nordica Enforcer 100, Stöckli Stormrider 95, Kästle MX98 and the most recent number one in the genre, Völkl’s M6 Mantra. At the opening bell of the 24/25 season, the only one of these veteran all-stars still standing is the Stöckli, and it, too, has been modestly modified.
The nearly across-the-board flip of the top models in such a critical category – one that hopes to attract the best skiers on the biggest mountains – has created a two-way bounty for skilled, all-terrain skiers. On the one hand, the forced retirement of all the skis still in dealer racks at the end of the season should create a windfall of discounted models that commanded top dollar just a few months ago. On the other end of the product development cycle, each of the new models was created to exceed the performance range of its predecessor. In my estimation, each of the new arrivals has succeeded, each in its own way, of out-performing its departing kin.
Not to be overlooked among the cascade of new AMW models is a fresh face from our favorite small-batch producer, Liberty. Its Radian 100 clings to a carved edge like a much narrower ski, with the indifference to terrain changes that is the hallmark of the best of this genre.
Power Picks: All-Condition Chargers
Not all the best skiers on big mountains use All-Mountain West skis as their everyday ski, but the ones that do are probably on one of our Power Picks. It’s not that less skilled skiers can’t handle them if sized appropriately, but these skis aren’t meant to mosey down the mountain. They’re built to batter down the stiffest crud, an approach that only works if the throttle is open. If you’re an expert skier and you haven’t tried one of these models yet, don’t let another season go by without doing so. To paraphrase the late, great Warren Miller, if you don’t do it this year, you’ll be another year older when you do.
To inject a personal note into the proceedings, I adhere to my own advice, choosing an All-Mountain West Power ski as my daily driver. If you’re a western skier who logs more than 30 days a season and charges the fall line, you probably already have one of these models. If you don’t, get one.
Finesse Favorites: All-Terrain Access for All
The main reason to acquire an All-Mountain West ski is to get the widest ski possible you can use as an everyday ride. The reason you want the widest ski is so you can take it into powder and what’s left of powder between storms. To make that all-terrain access as effortless as possible, you want one of our Finesse Favorites.
The price of off-trail success can be some stability at high speed on hard snow, but this shouldn’t be a concern for advanced skiers who rarely reach the top end of the recreational speed range. When kept within their comfort zone – mid-radius turns at moderate speeds – our Finesse Favorites can motor through any terrain you care to traverse.