The Armada JJ may not be new, but it shouldn’t be overlooked just because it was ahead of the curve when it came to making a ski with a multi-dimensional sidecut that excused the tip and tail from contributing to a traditional turn.

Instead, Armada softened up the extremities and raked them out of the snow so they wouldn’t interfere with a smeared turn or a sudden impulse to spin around a time or two. The cambered area that remained underfoot they reinforced with a stiff sidewall so it had some bite and rebound, and the archetype of a New School powder ski was born.

The JJ tip is an active snow-sniffer, bobbing up and down until it finds some crud or powder to give it a sense of purpose. This is a bothersome attribute to some, but it has no deleterious side effects and is certainly no more distracting than many other rockered powder skis when hard snow is the only option. When in its element, the JJ is fun, floaty, agile and accommodating.

* @ 195cm, the JJ is fatter underfoot (120mm), earning it the “AK” suffix.