[Neither the Laser MX nor its scores have changed since this review was posted last season.]

Stöckli takes racing very, very seriously. Perhaps that’s why the Swiss brand has waited forever to make a women’s Laser; if making a women’s model entails a compromise on performance, forget it. To make sure the new Laser MX would be worthy, Stöckli teamed up with World Cup star Tina Maze to concoct it. The result of collaboration with the erstwhile world’s fastest woman is a bullet that whips in and out of the fall line as if it were impatient to be another two turns ahead. “A snappy ladies carver that finishes a turn with a happy snap that put a smile on everyone’s face,” writes one ecstatic evaluator.

That the Laser MX is both lightning quick to the edge and comfortable at GS race speeds is a testament to its meticulous construction. It’s only concessions to femininity are a softer flex (than a race ski) and core made from lighter wood varieties. Of course experts will appreciate it more than lower skill skiers, but the Laser MX is forgiving enough for the adventurous intermediate. Its 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 consensus of the testers who took it for a spin is best captured by one of Stacey Cook’s Chix on Stix: “Super fun, light, tight turner. You can ski this all day and not get tired.”