Blizzard launched an all-out blitz this year on the women’s Frontside category, sending six models to the front lines, covering every price point from $480 to $840. Our testers’ ranks were spread thin trying to cover this wide spectrum, with only a couple of models receiving enough attention to qualify for coverage. We selected the Quattro W 8.0 Ca as the emerging star in this crowded constellation.

Part of the Quattro concept is to offer a choice of waist width, length and sidecut for a given construction and price point. The Quattro W 8.0 Ca has a sister ski, the 7.4 Ca, with the identical build, baseline and sidecut radius for each size, but an overall narrower silhouette. That both skis feel stable yet flexible is partly attributable to Blizzard’s IQ binding system that centers the integrated binding between two shoulders and fixes it to the ski with a single screw in the middle. A shock-dampening suspension system keeps the ride calm but doesn’t inhibit the Quattro W 8.0 Ca’s unusually sensitive snow feel.