We’ve been fans of the Nomad series since its debut several series ago. The Crimson Ti and Blackeye Ti have made frequent appearances on our Recommended roster, and this year Atomic upped the ante by adding their effective Carbon Tank Mesh to both skis.
So how come our 2016 results didn’t place either Nomad in the forefront of their respective categories? Simply put, the new Vantage series, also adorned with Carbon Tank Mesh, stole the spotlight from the Crimson Ti for all-mountain prowess, while the ungodly good Redster Doubledeck 3.0 XT overshadowed the Blackeye Ti as a carver. So apologies, Atomic: your newest models are so sensational, they make your previous best efforts seem almost lackluster by comparison.
The Vantage and Redster series especially impressed our men, but every Atomic women’s series—Affinity, Cloud and Vantage—slayed it with the women. Of the ten Atomic women’s skis essayed by our crew, the only ski not to make our Recommended cut was the Big Mountain Century 109, which hasn’t had much opportunity to be fairly tested in the low-snow years of the recent past.
While the revival of their All-Mountain Vantage series is the big focus for the mainstream American skier, Atomic’s attention is never distracted from its core mission, which is winning World Cups. We’ll never get to ski exactly the Redsters that power Marcel Hirscher and Michaela Shiffrin to one crystal globe after another, but the technical skis we do get to play on, like the new Redster Doubledeck 3.0 XT, are sheer ecstasy for any expert, whether you race in real life or only in your dreams.