Firebird Competition

The fact that the Firebird Comp can be coaxed into a long arc doesn’t mean it doesn’t prefer to zip in and out of turns to a faster beat. Its carvilicious tip likes to pull into a new turn more than its relatively narrow tail likes to hold onto it, so the Comp behaves like a turn-seeking missile. Mike from Granite Chief portrays his experience on the Firebird as “popping between turns like a pogo stick, yet it still held its own at speed,” Mike marvels. “Very snappy and responsive,” pens another Firebird fan. “I liked this one the most out of the Firebird series. “You gotta ski it, but a nice feel for that serious carving person. Rad!!”

Amphibio Black

The Amphibio Black Edition seems to operate on its own volition. It’s like owing a pair of animated skis that previously belonged to Roger Rabbit. Step in and you’re off on a Disney-quality ride: exciting but never scary. That’s because it’s as smooth and languid as a Southern drawl. Even when it’s whipping around a corner, it doesn’t act hurried or nervous. If you’ve ever driven a ritzy sedan, you know how 85mph feels like 60; on the Amphibio Black, 40mph feels like 20. The added ingredient that distinguishes the Amphibio Black from its template, the Amphibio 16 TI2, is a top sheet of carbon that seems to smother whatever threatens to disturb its Buddha-like tranquility.

2019 Technical

Technical skis are invariably high performance, hard-snow carving models that have race ski properties and similar dimensions yet aren’t actually intended as gate skis but as hard snow toys for people who probably had race training in the misty past. In today’s...

The 2019 Technical Field

America is a nation of optimists. How else to explain why we buy wide skis on the faint hope we’ll encounter fresh snow, when Technical skis perform so much better on the groomed runs we ski every day? If skiers in the market for a second pair bought a precise carver...

2019 Women’s Technical

There are no women’s race skis made for consumers, only unisex skis in shorter lengths. Thus has it ever been so. If you calculated all the varieties of race models already being built at great expense by the brands committed to the category, you’d understand why...