If you’re an Old School powder skier who pushes off his tails at the bottom of the turn, the Black Crows Atris is going to feel like home. Of course its double rockered baseline – “double beaked” in Crow-speak – can smear a turn to correct line or shed speed, but the Atris is essentially a directional ski that surfs as a hobby.

There’s a trick to skiing crud: it’s called, “speed.” A powder ski that wilts under pressure discourages the requisite acceleration. The extra support the Atris delivers derives from its classic, cambered baseline underfoot and a tail meant for driving forward, not swiveling sideward. The Atris is a cool combination of youthful, Big Mountain attitude paired with the calm, focused aggression of the experienced pilot.

The Atris is the creation of Julien Regnier Lafforgue, the shaper who crafted the original Armada JJ, and it inherits the JJ’s surfy attitude, accented with just enough camber to keep it composed on groomers.

Kelli Gleason of Boot Doctors essayed the Atris’s little sister, the Atris Birdie, and came away elated. “This ski has perfect balance between schmearing and edge control,” she writes. “For 108mm underfoot, it’s easy pivoting, maneuverable yet powerful.”

While the Atris favors long-radius turns (note the 18m radius @ 184cm), it’s torsionally soft enough that it handles like a narrower ski. This expands its potential partners to include skiers who aren’t overly aggressive as well as those who attack the fall line. “It would be a great storm day ski,” surmises Paul Jacobs from California Ski Company. Indeed, if you were lucky enough to catch a storm day on an Atris, why on earth would you stop?

For its smooth response to mild pressure and the nonchalant way it lets a traditional skier take full advantage of its New School design, we award the Black Crows Atris a Silver Skier Selection.