Like French cooking, the genius of the Camox doesn’t lie in its basic ingredients but it how they all come together. (Want proof: try making a baguette.) The Camox is a poplar core, fiberglass ski with Kevlar and carbon stringers to give it strength and, in the immortal phraseology of Baron von Frankenstein, “LIFE!”

The Camox is a true All-Mountain ski in that it floats like a wide ski (you can’t fake fat) but corners like a much narrower model. You shouldn’t expect much hook-up at the top of the turn from a rockered forebody, but as long as it’s rolling edge to edge the Camox feels seamless and secure. The surprise comes when you give it a sudden infusion of speed – every ski test run requires it – and you find that the Camox has been holding out on you all along. “A very powerful ski,” notes a California Ski Company tester, “perhaps the most stable at high speed of everything I tested.”

A ski with the Camox’s dimensions, baseline and construction should be able to ski any terrain common to a western ski resort, and sure enough, the Camox has the combination of Finesse and Power properties to be competent in any condition. The Camox is in the running with the Orb for the best one-ski quiver in Black Crows’ 2018 collection.