The Elan Amphibio 88 XTI has smooth figured out. There’s more to it than just dissipating shock, although that’s still a large part of it. Smooth also entails the subtle infusion of energy that propels the ski across the fall line so the skier doesn’t feel the natural deceleration that occurs at the bottom of every turn. Smooth is a track that shows no smudges, an unbroken set of rails that follow the rhythm of the hill.

Elan would tell you this fluidity is due to Amphibio 4D Technology that combines an asymmetric baseline – cambered to the inside, rockered on the outside – with an asymmetric structure that’s convex in the forebody and concave in the caboose. This creates a ski that hooks up early and lets go as soon as it hits the transition, maintaining momentum and flow. It’s as though the ski were teaching you how it wanted to be skied: commit to the arc, stand on the center, drive and let the ski impart the energy to finish the job.

Jen from The Sport Loft sensed the Amphibio 88 XTI’s ability to instantly improve the average skier’s technical skills. “This super lively ski will make a Type II skier into a Type III skier.” Translation: your skiing will go from “meh” to “marvelous.”

The Amphibio 88 XTI’s scorecard looks like that of a straight-A+ student, with marks well above the field average in all criteria. Considering that this ski is clearly oriented to carving on a corduroy carpet in a genre that prioritizes versatility, it’s apparent that our testers didn’t care if the Amphibio 88 XTI was predisposed to carve; it was so damn silky and easy to steer, why wouldn’t it be a kick to ski in light pow, bumps and trees?

Because of its intuitive ease of operation, neck-rein response to pressure and security on edge, we award the Amphibio XTI a Silver Skier Selection.