[Neither the Speed Zone 12 Ti nor its scores have changed since this review was posted last season.]
The singular obsession of carving skis is maintaining continuous snow contact. Any interruption to an otherwise seamless arc is an aberration to be avoided at all costs. Dynastar has found a unique way of keeping the forebody in contact by making it more supple longitudinally without compromising the torsional rigidity needed for edge grip. Called Powerdrive, it’s a 3-piece sidewall that dampens shock, accentuates edge pressure and effectively uncouples the core from the sidewall structure.
This last function is particularly significant because it’s what allows the Speed Zone 12 Ti to stay smooth and accurate over rough terrain, flowing over irregularities instead of bouncing off them. “Hugs the snow,” one tester confirms, adding, “You don’t feel any deflections or minor bounces.” A full layer of Titanal works with the interior metal laminate in the Powerdrive sidewall to give the Speed Zone 12 Ti the crisp bite to the edge hard snow requires. While the Speed Zone 12 Ti is every bit as carving-centric as its comrades in the Technical cohort, it doesn’t require a fully laid-over stance to engage its best qualities.
The Dynastar Menace Proto F-Team floats so high it doesn’t encounter much resistance no matter how you choose to turn it. The Menace Proto’s ability to levitate despite its heft – an inevitable consequence of so much width – makes it particularly easy to swivel around trees and old tracks. Because it’s so easy to rotate, you can charge the fall line, knowing you can toss them sideways in a heartbeat. Once all the powder has been plundered you can ride the edge almost as if it were a carving ski. It even has a lively kick off the bottom of its preferred long arc, which makes it feel lighter through the turn transition.
With a name like Menace, this Dynastar sounds like a handful, but it actually takes instruction well. (As long as we’re not talking about hard snow carving, which lies outside its definition of “fun.”) It’s simplicity itself to pivot, which is essential if you’re going to ride it like a beast with two heads. Even if your intent is to always face downhill, this putty-knife smear-ability comes in handy in lumpy off-trail conditions where a narrower twin-tip won’t move sideways with equal facility.
And when the snow is light and fluffy and you can set your own line, the Menace 98 bounces off the base of a bottomless turn and uses that energy to surface and slash to the other side of the fall line. Whether you prefer your powder turns to be forward, backward or sideways, the Menace 98 is ready to accommodate.
[Neither the Intense 12 nor its scores have changed since this review was posted two seasons ago.]
Powerdrive is Dynastar’s name for a 3-piece sidewall which functions as a unique damping system. Stacked on edge alongside the core, it consists of a soft inner layer, a hard center section and a dynamic outer wall. Any time a viscoelastic material, like that used in the inner piece of Powerdrive, is bonded to Titanal (center part), the resulting element will act as a natural shock absorber, so the forebody of the Intense 12, where the Powerdrive feature resides, should stay nice and quiet on hard snow.
But Powerdrive serves another, more vital function: by un-coupling the core from the outer sidewall, the central laminates that dictate the ski’s behavior are allowed to shear, moving as the ski is pressured. This enhanced suppleness allows the ski to respond to subtle variations in the snow surface, maintaining contact, control and speed.
