Little by little, the women’s Technical category continues to add models to its lineup, offering a nearly full field of options to women who want elite hard snow performance. But expanding the market selection hasn’t substantially altered buyers’ interest, or lack thereof, at least in the American market. Our test team isn’t focused on the category and it shows in our spotty results.
Among the myriad missing models that eluded our detection are two new Luv Machines from K2, a trio of Sentras from Nordica, Völkl’s Flair SC Carbon, Fischer’s My Curv, Elan’s Insomnia and Blizzard’s Alight Pro. Three of last season’s Recommended models return unchanged, Atomic’s Cloud 12, Kästle’s LX73 and Dynastar’s Intense 12. Data and reviews for these models are likewise unchanged. Fleshing out the 2019 field is the new Laser MX from Stöckli. Recommended models are listed in order of their Power rating.