The few cards we received on the new Aira series from Salomon were split among its four models, diluting the results for all. This modest review is our only way to recognize models like the flagship Aira 84 Ti ($675) and 80 Ti ($725 w/ binding) that deserve consideration. Salomon has been making excellent system skis for women for years, none better than the new Airas. Salomon has applied all it’s learned about how to use carbon and flax in its popular off-piste QST series to the Frontside collection of Airas.

“I like the new technology that they are getting into,” says one of Willi’s Divas. “It was a light ski but with all of the bells and whistles of other heavier skis. It was great to go through the crud and stayed on edge when I needed it most. You would not think that it actually had metal in it and it does.” I’m not sure if a Titanal platform qualifies as a bell or a whistle, but along with C/FX³ – bundles of carbon and flax fibers in an end-to-end grid – and light, poplar core, it gives the Airas more holding power than you expect in such a featherweight ski (1420g@165cm for Aura 84 Ti). As Julie Matises of the Squaw Ski School sums up the Aira 84 Ti, it’s “lightweight, responsive in an easy way, and forgiving.”