The best All-Mountain West skis have the capacity to grip hard snow and pounce off the soft stuff, all on the same run. The Rossignol Blackops W Blazer gets its gripping power from a Titanal beam underfoot, which helps the entire ski stay in contact with a firm surface. The poppy spring off the bottom of a powder turn comes from a high camber line and reactive Diago fibers that run in a crosshatch pattern from tip to tail.
Making powder skiing easier by deploying a high, spring-loaded arch underfoot has been a Rossignol trademark since it introduced the first 7 series. Fans of the insanely successful Soul 7 will rediscover in the Blackops W Blazer the same load-and-release effortlessness that makes deep powder skiing feel as natural as walking.
The Black Pearl 97 borrows its sidecut and baseline from the unisex Bonafide 97, and purloins its Woman Specific Design (W.S.D.) from the Black Pearl 88. Last season both of its parents upgraded to the TrueBlend core, that perfectly matches flex to shape and size, so naturally the Black Pearl 97 followed suit.
Included in the W.S.D. package of enhancements is a Titanal mounting plate, that improves, well, everything about the Pearl 97. It’s grip on hardpack far exceeds expectations, and it makes mincemeat out of choppy crud. Its women-specific TrueBlend core finds the right balance between relatively light weight for maneuverability but enough substance to subdue a tracked-up fall-line.
The Kore 99 epitomizes what makes Head’s unique Kore construction so well adapted to irregular, off-trail conditions without compromising its capacity for holding on hard snow. The All-Mountain West category resides on the boundary line between hard-snow carvers and Big Mountain drifters. The Kore 99 is definitely from the latter camp of looser skis, but its thoughtful design never forgets that is has to meet a certain hard snow performance standard or Head won’t put its name on it.
Kore’s paramount intention is to make a lightweight construction that can be applied to wide skis without extra weight accompanying with the extra width. In the Kore series, Graphene is moved to the tip and tail where it adds structure but almost no weight, thereby lowering swingweight and making these wide skis easy to swivel.
Three other features contribute to the Kore 99’s shocking ease at negotiating battered crud fields and tight tree lines. One, the shoulders on the new Kore series have been rounded off, so the ski slips sideways almost without resistance, a huge plus when a wide ski has to be tossed around an obstacle. Two, the center section of sidecut is essentially straight, facilitating a swiveled turn finish that is the norm in deep snow. And three, a flex pattern that promotes playfulness and rebound, which reduces the effort required to make turns in tough terrain. Less effort means more fun and a longer ski day.
As is often the case with new technologies, Liberty has spent the last couple of years trying to find the best formula for its Vertical Metal Technology (VMT), settling this season on a three-struct configuration in its all-mountain evolv series. The vertical strips of alu are encased in bamboo stringers within a bamboo and poplar core that’s reinforced with carbon and glass. It’s a very rich and sophisticated construction that rises well above the norm among indie brands.
As executed in the evolv 100, VMT accentuates its carving traits, tipping its on-/off-trail ratio towards rocking groomers over ripping up crud. In a category in which most models can’t wait to smear, the evolv 100 prefers to carve, slicing long arcs (19m@179cm) that don’t deviate far from the fall line. To tighten your turns, apply a higher edge angle.
The evolv 100 skis best when the skier is pressing forward into the tip, as one would on a Technical ski, as opposed to the more centered stance favored by all-terrain skiers. Its insistence on carving and snow connection limits its enthusiasm for foot-swiveling and smearing, and it’s not light enough to throw sideways on a whim. Its unusual amalgam of traits gives the evolv 100 a unique dedication to snow connection among skis 100mm wide.
The Ranger 99 Ti seems to be a ski without bias. It could care less about snow conditions, has no qualms about long turns at high speeds or short arcs at a snail’s pace and can switch from a drift to a carve in mid-turn. Its monotonously good scores were above our Recommended cut line for every attribute we measure.
Another bias that the Ranger 99 Ti eschews is any trace of gender bias. The men’s and women’s versions are identical save for the decoration on the topsheet, and Fischer’s rationale for this homogeneity holds water. At this skill level, men and women tend to ski alike, so the need for a differentiated women’s product is little to none. Our female testers validated this approach, praising the 99 Ti in particular for its off-piste performance. Our male testers laud the Ranger 99 Ti’s agility for a ski of its girth, calling it “best short turns of the big mountain, soft snow skis.”
By tweaking everything – core, baseline, sidewalls – Fischer transformed this commercially important model from what was once a lightweight who got beat up by mean conditions like hard snow or chunky crud into a lean machine that doesn’t take any crap from any kind of snow, no matter what the Eskimos call it. The Ranger 99 Ti deserves to be considered among the first rank of All-Mountain West models.
