The top echelon of unisex Frontside skis isn’t made for Finesse skiers, period, end of story. Finesse skiers are instead served by the cascade of step-down models that populate the bulk of the Frontside category. Generally speaking, these lower priced models don’t stand a chance competing against the elite of the genre so you won’t find them among our Recommended medallion recipients.

Any unisex Frontside model that earns its highest marks for Finesse properties is perforce an oddity, and so it is with this season’s tiny sample. The new Blizzard Brahma 82 is a blast to ski despite having little in common with the Frontside community. The Salomon XDR 84 Ti is deliberately vying for lightest-in-show in a category stocked with heavyweights. If you want a really lightweight, pliable carver, it’s one of your few options.