The i.Rally is dying to demonstrate proper carving technique. Just tip it on edge and it immediately gets the hint, settling into an arc with the ease of cat curling up on a sofa. If you want a tighter arc, all you have to do is ask by adding a measure of edge angle to the otherwise effortless process. The ski seems to gain energy as it accelerates, so the faster you go, the quicker the i.Rally responds. As long as the terrain is groomed, the i.Rally drives with precision, energy and confidence-building stability at speed.

Last winter I had the opportunity to ski the i.Rally in exactly the conditions it wasn’t designed for: sun-exposed, tracked-up crud followed by deep doses of powder. The hourglass sidecut of the i.Rally should have been a liability in the crud, but instead of feeling twitchy it just beat the chunder aside. I couldn’t smear turns the way one would on a Big Mountain model, but it was no problem to use on-trail technique and simply overpower the chop.

Then came the deep powder part of the program when the Chutes at Mt. Rose unexpectedly opened. At that point there was no chance to change skis, so in I went on my Supershapes. This was a less-than-perfect marriage of ski and snow. All that shape meant my tips wanted to ride on top but my feet were submerged two feet deep. I admit I missed my big, fat, light, surfy 108’s.

But I still got down the hill, in conditions that could not have been less suitable. Point being, the i.Rally can handle any condition from boilerplate to heavy crud. It’s only natural that the same design features which make it shine on hardpack work to its detriment in powder. This shouldn’t be considered a shortcoming on the i.Rally’s part, but serves as another reminder that it pays to own a pair of Big Mountain or Powder skis.