Back in the day, liveliness was a common trait among performance skis. With the advent of shaped skis, advanced technique involved maintaining snow contact through the end of the arc. Popping off the snow became a faux pas, rockered tips reared their ugly heads and camber lines flattened out like deflated tires.
By freeing up the fiberglass in its belly to compress, Völkl’s M5 Mantra creates the energy to recoil off the edge and fire the skier through the turn transition. It’s expert skiing as it used to be, before it became popular to make off-trail skis that were built more for skidding than carving.
The M5 Mantra is the antidote to the smeary ski. It’s not a ski for floating over fluffy drifts of powder. Instead, it dives into pow and blows it up from the bottom, using the energy out of the turn to bring the ski up to the surface like a dolphin. No other ski in the genre is as firmly committed to carving through thick and thin as the M5.
For the skier with established carving skills looking for a ski unintimidated by rough-and-tumble terrain, the revitalized M5 Mantra is your kind of board. The M5 was focused from its conception to serve the needs and meet the expectations of experts, which is why it doesn’t smear as readily as the rest of the AMW contingent.
The Hero Elite LT Ti isn’t a watered-down race ski, just one that’s been domesticated. It still uses the race-room fabrication called Line Control Technology (LCT) comprised of a central rib of Ti wrapped in a viscoelastic shell that keeps the ski from counterflexing. The sense of contact throughout the turn is clean and accurate with a finish that focuses on maintaining its solid snow connection.
A close inspection of its tech specs reveals a tip that’s as wide across the beam as a race slalom, with a waist and tail that are also a tad plumper than the norm for a GS race ski. Its shape helps the Hero Elite LT Ti tuck into a tighter arc than it likes to finish, so it doesn’t lose momentum as it barrels downhill. Within the fraternity of Non-FIS Race GS skis, the Hero Elite LT Ti comes closest to being a recreational cruiser, and we don’t mean that in a dismissive way. As a freeskiing tool, it holds its own against all comers.
The Rossignol Hero Elite ST Ti is the mellowest member of the Non-FIS Race cast we assembled last spring at Mammoth. It behaves as if all the demanding, my-way-or-the-highway traits of true race skis had been polished off, leaving a ski with race aptitude without the attitude.
The Rossi Hero Elite ST’s high overall score is driven in large part by its unusually high rating for Finesse properties, including low-speed turning, forgiveness, drift-ability and Finesse/Power Balance. Its facility at drifting could be attributable to its Titanal Power Rail, a vertical band of Titanal that bisects the ski. This reduces torsional rigidity – ergo the extra permissiveness when not on edge – but reinforces contact along the long axis. The result is a smooth ride that doesn’t demand aggression to be appreciated.
Head did an amazing job of positioning its Kore series as “light done right,” catching the “Lighter is Better” wave with the right message at the right time. The brand’s focus on the light part of the story was so effective it overshadowed the real point of the slogan, the “done right” bit. What makes the Kore 117 a star performer isn’t that it’s ultralight – it’s not close to being the lightest in the Powder genre – but that it’s freakishly powerful.
The deeply tapered tip acts more like a bumper than an avid turn initiator and the rounded tail is intended to release the turn as if it were a wounded sparrow. Right underfoot the sidecut is fairly straight, so the center section can be foot-steered more easily. What keeps the Kore 117 on track in choppy chunder is its overall stiffness. Thanks to Graphene’s absurd strength to weight ratio, the Kore 117 can be as resistant to twisting and bending as Head’s engineers want it to be.
Tester: Jennifer Simpson
I’ve had the chance to ski the Dynastar Intense 4X4 in a variety of conditions and found it to be a versatile Frontside adventure ski. Face it, at most resorts the powder does not last all day and having a ski that performs well in a variety of conditions is key. These skis are great for days when you are likely to encounter a variety of snow conditions, or when you plan to ski a variety of terrain. In my experience, they’re nimble enough for moguls, stable at speed on the groomers, and provide enough float for forays into frontside powder stashes in the trees or beside the trail. This ski is fun, fun, fun on the groomers, and while they’re wider than my go-to carving skis, they’re quick edge-to-edge and will leave satisfying deep grooves in the corduroy. I’ve found it to be nimble enough for moguls, and especially enjoyable when there is powder or soft crud snow in the bumps. 82mm is a great width for light powder days, where this traditional feeling ski provides some extra float and smoothes out the ride compared to narrower Frontside skis. These skis perform very well up to medium-fast speeds in powder, bumps, and crud. If you like to go on the faster side, or are a more powerful skier, you might consider going up one size from your usual length to keep the tip stable and feel confident when plowing through piled up snow.
