2022 Women’s Technical
There are no women’s race skis made for consumers, only unisex skis in shorter lengths. Thus has it ever been so. If you calculated all the varieties of race models already being built at great expense by the brands committed to the category, you’d understand why creating another whole layer of duplication isn’t in the cards. Plus women who belong on these skis don’t require pandering, as anyone who has ever seen Michaela or Lindsay ski in person can attest.
Since Technical skis are usually direct spin-offs from a race design, little wonder there are so few carving skis being built specifically for women. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the few sticks being made for this elite female are all excellent.
The 2022 Women’s Technical Field
Just because we don’t have any fresh data, doesn’t mean we don’t know diddley. We’ve limited the list below to the top models available from the major brands, listed in alphabetical order by brand. This is a genre stocked wall-to-wall with no-nonsense carving machines: note the number with a fully cambered baseline.
Their scarcity in America hasn’t discouraged the major brands from continuing to invest in new designs for Women’s Technical skis. Of the seven models profiled here, four are new this year and two entered the fold only last season. Most of these models headline a family of women’s models meant to hit lower price points in the Frontside genre. The only model without a single sister is the Stöckli Laser MX.
While we have no data to support our hypothesis, based on construction and design we’d conjecture that the Atomic, Blizzard, Stöckli and Head will be the most powerful and race-like, while the Dynastar, K2 and Rossi are just a hair more mellow.
Atomic Cloud C14 WB Revo
Atomic’s top Cloud model usually mimics the technology of the latest Redster race skis, and so it is with the Cloud C14 WB Revo. “Revo” refers to Atomic’s new race damping system, a series of steel plates floating on a viscoelastic foundation. The “WB” means Wide Body, and at 75mm underfoot, the Cloud C14 WB Revo is by Realskiers’ definition a Frontside ski, which suggests that somewhere in Europe there’s a Cloud C14 Revo that isn’t “WB.”
The three other Cloud models in the 21/22 collection all belong in the Technical genre, but only the Cloud C12 Servo merits an expert’s interest. Both the C14 and C12 are fully cambered, Titanal-laden, fall-line loving chargers that do not stoop to conquer.
Read the full review here
Blizzard Phoenix R14 Pro
The fate of Blizzard’s new Phoenix R14 Pro epitomizes the plight of the entire genre: although it’s almost certainly the highest performing Women’s Technical ski Blizzard has ever made, neither it nor its stablemate, the Frontside Phoenix R13 Ti, will make it to our shores this season.
What a pity, as we can infer from its unisex incarnation, the Thunderbird R15, that the Phoenix R14 Pro would be a ripper. This is not a design intended to tiptoe down the hill; its shape and its construction are made to fire down the fall line and blast off the edge. The Phoenix design is a product of Blizzard’s Women-2-Women program, but remember, the women concerned are ex-racers who haven’t forgot how to arc ‘em and spark ‘em. This is a ski the testers made for themselves. Maybe we’ll see it next year…
Read the full review here
Dynastar E Lite 9
Over the past two seasons, Dynastar has completely transformed its collection, tackling the freeride sector with the M-Line last year, and re-positioning its on-piste S-Line for 21/22. The E Lite models form the women’s division of the Speed series, meant for carving up corduroy. As is often the case, the top model – the E Lite 9 – resides in the Technical genre, while its wider and softer siblings are Frontside fillies. Note the “Lite” in its name: the E Lite 9 definitely emphasizes lightness and quickness over heft and power.
Dynastar’s signature traits of agility, lightness and subtle snow feel are largely attributable to its poplar and PU hybrid core. In a genre that usually uses a generous allotment of Titanal, the E Lite 9 stands out for its light, peppy responsiveness.
Read the full review here
Head Power Joy
The Power Joy is unlike the rest of Head’s extensive Joy family of women’s skis, all of which were built from scratch, without reference to any unisex template. The Power Joy has clearly paid a visit to the Race Department, coming away with the EMC shock-damping system, and purloined its sidecut from the men’s Supershape e-Speed. It may have been “feminized” in some fashion compared to the e-Speed, but I doubt very much it skis like a typical women’s ski.
Also in the Technical genre is the Epic Joy (122/65/100), a short-radius turn specialist built with the same women-specific construction found in Head’s other top Joy models.
Read the full review here
Stöckli Laser MX
Stöckli never stops tinkering with its skis, so the Laser MX of two years ago and the Laser MX of today aren’t exactly the same ski. My favorite improvement since its debut is the integration of Turtle Shell technology, that allows the top Titanal laminate is able to soften or stiffen according to how forcefully it’s pressured, so the Laser MX can auto-adapt to the skier’s aggression level.
The Laser MX loves to execute a tight turn radius, no matter how gently or aggressively it’s decambered. Sized judiciously, the Laser MX can happily accommodate any female skier from advanced intermediate to legitimate expert.
Read the full review here
K2 Disruption MTi Alliance
K2 has always had a strong presence in the Women’s Frontside field, a tradition it’s reasserting with the Disruption Alliance series it inaugurated last year. The Disruption MTi Alliance uses the same trifecta of key features – Dark Matter Damping, Ti I-Beam and Powerwall – as the unisex Disruption MTi, in a modified flex, shape and size range. This year, there are five new Disruption Alliance models, taking over all duties in the Frontside genre from the retired Anthem series.
No other Women’s Technical model is as slender in the forebody as the Disruption MTi Alliance, creating a gentle pull into the turn that never feels rushed. A strong ski with a gentle disposition, it takes less energy to extract a long turn than on a more torsionally rigid ski with a deeper sidecut.
Read the full review here
Rossignol Nova 14 Ti
While the Nova 14 Ti bears more than a passing resemblance to the unisex React R10 Ti, it’s not a clone in women’s colors. It has its own version of Rossi’ signature Line Control Technology (LCT), called LCT Soft, plus Carbon Alloy Matrix, which adds oodles of damping with very little mass, along with Titanal laminates for extra power and control.
Rossignol is the only brand I can think of that draws attention to how each model reacts to pressure. A stiffer flex that transfers the skier’s energy along a cambered baseline is called “Boost Flex,” indicating that it stores enough energy to hoist the skier across the fall line. What a great way to encapsulate the behavior of a ski like the Nova 14 Ti.
Read the full review here