Before we begin doling out victory laurels, we pause to recognize all the great skis of 2016/17 not being singled out below. Every unisex ski that earned a Realskiers.com Recommended medallion is by definition one of the best skis of the year. We award a lot of medallions (89 out of 153 unisex models reviewed) because there are a lot of wonderful skis spread across the seven genres examined by Realskiers’ panel of test shops.
Given that all Recommended models are really good, picking a best of the best becomes a matter of personal taste, style and skill set. The selections here are unabashedly subjective and while most are picked off the top of the podium in their respective categories, a few are gems plucked from further down the Recommended ranks.
Our focus here is the broad mid-section of the recreational ski market, comprising models in the Frontside (waists 75mm-84mm), All-Mountain East (85-94), All-Mountain West (95-100) and Big Mountain (101-113) categories. We’re not including race skis, or their Technical clones, because they’re all great. We’ll cover Powder skis another time and women’s models next week.
For each of the four genres, we divide the field into Power and Finesse sub-sets. Power models respond best to a skilled, athletic skier who is relaxed at speed, normally skis at high edge angles and can tackle any terrain. Finesse models don’t require as much energy to engage and can be comfortably steered from a narrow stance; they are generally more forgiving and maneuverable at lower speeds than Power models.
The envelopes, please…
Frontside Power: Head Supershape i.Rally
When Head added Graphene® to the already superb Rally, it wasn’t to lighten the ski – in fact, Head added more Titanal – but to redistribute pressure sensitivity. The result is a ski that feels supple longitudinally but bites into hard snow like a barracuda. Any turn shape you can conceive you can access, instantly.
Frontside Finesse: Kästle CPM82 When does a solid behave like a liquid? When it’s the Kästle CPM82, which flows down the gravity stream as placid and powerful as a river of mercury. The only downside is the MSRP, which is in “if-you-have-to-ask…” territory. Skiers who need to exercise some fiscal restraint but still want a luxury ride requiring little exertion, the Nordica GT 84 TI EVO fits the bill.
All-Mountain East Power: Rossignol Experience 88 HD
There are several more burly skis in this genre than the E88 HD, but no other model has so significantly boosted its performance profile. The addition of Rossi’s new Carbon Alloy Matrix has infused the 88 HD with power and pop while retaining its easy-going carving capacity across a broad spectrum of conditions.
All-Mountain East Finesse: Atomic Vantage 90 CTi
The main reason to shop for a ski in the All-Mountain East genre is to find the single ski that does it all, the proverbial one-ski quiver. The Atomic Vantage 90 CTi is truly terrain-blind: it doesn’t care what lies ahead as it’s equally ready for powder, hard pack or the choppy terrain that lies between these extremes. 
All-Mountain West Power: Blizzard Bonafide
The central components of the Blizzard Bonafide are essentially the same as every other Recommended Power ski in the All-Mountain West category: wood, metal and glass. But the sublime way the Bonafide transitions from knee-deep freshies to hacked-up crud to crystal corduroy with a Buddha-like calm turns high-octane, all-terrain skiing into a party.
All-Mountain West Finesse: K2 Pinnacle 95
K2 has never lost sight of the fact that wide skis were originally conceived to make off-trail skiing easier. The Pinnacle 95 is the latest embodiment of this principle. While it has enough shape and torsional rigidity to steer accurately on groomers, its amply rockered baseline and low swingweight are made to facilitate off-trail travels.
Best Value: Atomic Vantage 95C
It’s not often that a diverse population of ski testers will all agree, but everyone who skis the Atomic Vantage 95C comes away agog that it’s MSRP is only $600. Like any great all-terrain ski, it keeps its cool in all conditions, but unlike most skis at this price, it doesn’t come unglued when skied aggressively.
Big Mountain Power: Volkl V-Werks Katana
There’s a simple answer to, “What else skis like a V-Werks Katana?” Nothing, that’s what. All those layers of compressed carbon around a seriously slimmed down wood core create a Big Mountain ski with the carving aptitude of a straight razor. In soft snow, it’s buoyant, responsive and stable; yet it will ride a high edge as if it were a lightweight – albeit unusually wide – GS ski.
Big Mountain Finesse: Salomon QST 106
Any ski with sufficient girth and a rockered baseline makes skiing uncut powder senselessly simple; the real test of off-trail proficiency is how a ski copes with two-day-old slop with the consistency of bean dip. The Salomon QST 106 can smear its way over old tracks as easily as it can slice through two feet of fresh, and its lightweight chassis helps keep fatigue from setting in too soon.