If you want to build a brilliant Frontside carver, it makes sense to start with a fairly tight turning radius, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, nothing hooks up as instantly as a ski with a big drop in width from forward contact point to waist.  Second, it’s easier to coax a long arc out of short-radius sidecut than it is to force a short turn out of a big-radius ski, making the former a more versatile stick.

Despite sporting a classic camber line bereft of any of the purported benefits of a long early rise in the tip, Skilogik’s Front Burner is one of those rare skis that is so well balanced that we could list among our Finesse winners (as we did last year) or slide it into the Power posse as it appears here, as this position is slightly more indicative of the Burner’s appetite for slicing hard snow to ribbons.

While any torsionally stiff ski with a fat tip and skinny waist will hook up, the problem with most of this species is they tend at the same time to lock up, meaning they won’t release the edge even if you beg. The Front Burner somehow manages to be at once water-bug quick, silky smooth and willing to go with the flow however you choose to turn it.  Its standout features are a light-footed fluidity that masks an avenger’s attitude.

The Front Burner is more indifferent to irregular terrain than the average Frontside ski, so it’s a better candidate as a one-ski quiver.   Responsive, purposeful and supple, the Burners feel likes dancing shoes when on the feet of an elite skier, but they’re open-hearted enough to serve as game improvement skis for those less talented.