What is it about the Deacon 84 that allows it be all skis to all (Frontside) skiers? It’s the alluring combination of a fiberglass torsion box and tactically placed Titanal parts that nullify shock without stifling the glass structure’s naturally springy nature. It’s exceptional rebound – it will lift you right off the snow if you punch it – derives from the Deacon 84’s 3D Glass, top and bottom glass laminates that come together above the sidewall to create a torsion box. The 3-part Titanal Frame anchors the forebody and tail while allowing the center to react to pressure, so the glass can compress and load up energy for the turn transition.
As if immaculate edge grip weren’t enough, on the Deacon 84 it comes in three sizes, small, medium and large, facilitated by a triple-radius sidecut that gives the pilot total control over turn shape. Jim Schaffner, a Masterfit University instructor and longtime coach, “found this ski to be very versatile. This ski was super easy to pivot/ drift, yet at the same time, on medium pitch runs where I could go for it and really engage the front of the ski, I could feel the power and control. This is going to be a very popular ski for a large group of the market,” he presciently predicted.
Tester: Kaylin Richardson
The Secret 92 is the single ski quiver for the powerful female skier. Its versatility continues to blow me away. It is the first ski I’ve had the pleasure of owning that I can pull out on any given day, with any given conditions, and never have any regrets.
As a former ski racer, and 5’10” woman, I can overpower many women’s skis when I really go for it. The Secrets are slightly stiffer than some of their contemporaries and I love that. Their multilayer woodcore and full sidewall design make for a ski that holds an incredible amount of energy without requiring a herculean effort. This is what initially impressed me most and keeps me coming back to the Secret day in and day out: the magical combination of power, versatility, and ease.
Since riding these boards I haven’t had to hang my head because I accidentally grabbed my powder pontoons on a bluebird groomer day or held back my cursing when I’m stuck with carving skis as a surprise blizzard arrives.. The Titanal Frame creates a stability I can trust at speed on any surface, yet I still get the dynamic feedback of acceleration, arguably the most fun part of skiing. They are playful without being squirrely, cutting through virtually any snow condition like butter.
Tester: Edie Thys Morgan
When you go to Jackson Hole, you want one thing and one thing only. You want powder, and lots of it. You don’t really care if your ski can carve GS turns without a whimper on firm groomers, or turn on a dime in the crux of a chewed up chute. You certainly don’t care if it will hold on a marble hard wind-scoured ridge or if it can downshift without flinching when you get into a dicey tight spot that was a whole lot friendlier the last time you were in it. Why bother wondering if it can navigate sun-baked moguls without your knees and your back squawking and your teeth rattling out of your head?
No, you don’t care about any of those things because you’re going to be ripping down Rendezvous Bowl and hitting the Hobacks for 4,000 vert of uninterrupted champagne fluff. And then you wake up, and guess what? Your vacation just might come between epic dumps. When it does, you’re going to wish you brought that one ski that can do all of the above.
The Secret102 may look like a fatty—and it’s definitely got the girth to plow through the powder of your dreams and its skied-out aftermath—but it’s no one trick pony. The ski gets happier as you dial up the intensity, which is also to say, it performs best when you’re the boss.
Why do I bother to round up every Non-FIS Race model I can rustle, along with the talent required to rate them? Practically no one in America could give a damn about the category, much less what I have to say about it. In the modern world, there are myriad definitions of what constitutes an all-purpose ski, and not one of them fits the profile of a NFR model. Quite the opposite, in fact: race skis are used as the prime example of what an all-terrain ski isn’t.
The world has indeed gone mad. In the halcyon days of my youth, the best all-terrain skis were race skis because all the best skis were race skis. A lot has happened to race skis since I was wearing long thongs, but one thing hasn’t changed: the best of them are still miraculous all-terrain tools. The best of them, exemplified by the Völkl Racetiger SL, feel limitless.
Corty Lawrence, whose normal turn radius is on the long side, called the Racetiger SL “the most versatile of the genre, with a broad range of uses. It has a traditional Teutonic feel and demeanor, and alters turn shape/radius without a problem. Good at low speed and great at high speed,” said the son of skiing legend Andrea Mead Lawrence.
