One of the major market trends over the past few seasons has been a “Lighter is Better” movement, a competition among manufacturers to see who can make the lightest ski that still retains high performance properties. No other brand is as well positioned as Fischer to capitalize on the LIB frenzy, as it has spent decades astride the cross-country ski market where lightweight has always been a fetish.

At 1,750g in a 175cm length, the Pro Mountain 86 Ti is by far the lightest ski among our Power picks in the AME genre. Fischer pared away excess material inside and out: the Air Tec wood core uses off-set milling to whittle away excess weight; carbon fiber inserts in the tip and tail further reduce swing weight; and the Razorshape surface pares off the top corners. Perhaps most remarkable, those 1,750 grams include two full-length sheets of Titanal, giving the Pro Mountain 86 Ti edging power that’s well above its weight class.

“Excellent carvability!” exclaims Sturtevant’s of Sun Valley’s Olin Glenne. “Solid feel, yet quick and very precise,” Glenne added, ranking the Pro Mountain 86 Ti his favorite all-mountain ski for Frontside conditions. Greg Whitehouse, the affable owner of California Ski Company also declared his love for this Fischer, calling it, “very solid and smooth as silk for high speed cruising in a variety of terrains.” Noting that its interest in short, slow turns was also of short duration, Whitehouse opines, “Hard to reel it in but if you don’t care to slow down, just hang on and grin!”

Equipped with both tip and tail rocker, the Pro Mountain 86 Ti has a slight tendency to wobble when running flat, but all it takes to settle down is a dose of edge angle, which can be large or small depending on the pilot’s predilections. Once it’s on edge and rolling, its spirited side emerges, so the better it’s skied, the better it skis.