It’s unlikely that the new Atomic Redster X9 will instantly make you a better skier; it’s a certainty it’ll make you feel like one. The Redster X9 is built to turn speed into more speed by maintaining edge contact no matter how hard you try to make it fly. It’s signature technology, Servotec, is meant to impart the impression of power steering by making it easy to find an early edge and holding it for as little or as long as you like.
The Cloud 12 isn’t made for the lackadaisical carver who wants to hang out on the tail end of a turn long enough to check her messages. The second self-evident feature that helps define the Cloud 12’s behavior is its svelte shape. This streamlined rocket thinks of recreational runs as another opportunity to win something, taking off down the fall line as if suddenly freed from a bad relationship. .
The Atomic Vantage 90 CTi is the perfect candidate to represent the All-Mountain East category, a genre that occupies the middle ground in a ski market segmented by width. The Vantage 90 CTi exemplifies this “does-a-bit-of-everything” personality. It can’t be quicker than a Race Slalom nor as floaty as a Big Mountain model, but it does a decent impersonation of both, which is a pretty neat trick in itself. Like a musician who can play any tune you can name, the Vantage 90 CTi will move to whatever rhythm you care to set.
Unlike most made-for-women skis, the Vantage 90 CTi W pulls practically no punches compared to its men’s counterpart. Its all-wood core is a little lighter, that’s it. The women’s ski still sports a cutout Titanal sheet called Titanium Backbone 2.0 that’s a principal contributor to the ski’s success in cruddy conditions.
The other special sauce that elevates this Vantage’s versatility is the Carbon Tank Mesh. Covering the length of the ski, the carbon component pumps up the performance in every criterion.
Atomic’s Bent Chetler is a delightfully off-the-wall ski that turns out to behave like the most normal kid in its class. You fear it will roll edge to edge with the reflexes of a locomotive, but it actually responds to tipping and bending with the pliability of a yogi. Created by Chris Bentchetler to facilitate terrain park tricks in the backcountry, the Backland Bent Chetler biggest trick maybe the way its midsection stays anchored to the snow whether it’s hard or soft.