Like everyone else, we have no idea why Michaela Shiffrin is so preternaturally talented and unflinchingly poised, but we’re pretty sure of one thing: her equipment isn’t holding her back.
As with the Head iSL RD, to ski the Atomic Redster Doubledeck 3.0 SL is to fall in love, hard. Last season one tester felt a 10-point scale couldn’t do the 2016 Redster justice, awarding it 11’s for rebound and short-radius turns, two traits that epitomize what makes race slalom skis such a kick to cut loose on.
As one would expect, this bee-sting quick racer would rather scrub toilets than a turn and don’t expect its agreeable disposition to stay sunny if you drag it far off the well-groomed path. The one change to the 2017 Redster SL that makes it new isn’t in the ski itself but in its integrated platform. Ramp Tech, the ingenious device that increased ramp angle with speed, has been discarded in favor of a static plate that is standard issue for World Cup skis. Ramp Tech lost favor not because it didn’t work but because it did; raising standheight while in motion presents issues with FIS regulations governing elevation. To stay within strictly regulated tolerances, the racer would be obliged to leave the start with less than the full measure of allowed elevation. The best racers in the world regarded Ramp Tech as a training aid to the less talented (a fair assessment), a performance enhancement they could live without. Having skied both the SL and GS 2017 Redster Doubledeck race skis, we have to agree that Ramp Tech, clever as it was, has been replaced with a plate that works brilliantly, even if it isn’t as dynamic.
While we have nothing but more superlatives to add to what we wrote about the Redster SL last season, allow us to carve out a corner of this review to mention the one that got away, the Redster GS. Even a recreational run on them is like going to Racing Fantasy Camp, as the security on edge is so unflappable the skier begins to believe in his own invincibility. Once up to speed, anything seems possible.