[While there has been a slight shift in scores due to new data, both the Redster X9 and this review are unchanged from last year.]

How is it possible to make a better Technical ski than Atomic’s Redster X9? It has the stability of a sumo wrestler and the reflexes of a fencer. If there’s a speed at which the edge breaks loose, chances are you’ll never touch it. Its imperturbable hold is amplified by a feature called Servotec, a long, thin rod embedded in an elastomer under the binding at one end and attached on the other end at a point just behind the shovel. The interaction of the rod and the elastomer during flexion both absorbs shock and actively restores ski/snow contact.

Servotec’s effects are noticeable both in straight running and especially in energized turns, where the X9’s rebound qualities are off the charts. “Really great for a ‘beer league’ ski!” raves one of The Sport Loft faithful. “Lots of fun, if a little stout.” To this tester’s point, one has to be able to impart energy in order for Servotec to kick in, but any athletic expert should be up to this challenge. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked, like the tester who wrote, “Feels like an old friend right away. Ski begs for speed like a junkie. Nifty rebound carries skier to next turn It’s easy to lean into and trust.”

Quick to edge and powerful as a nuclear reactor on the hard snow it prefers, the Redster X9 loses motivation when asked to perform off-trail. Its abysmal score for Off-Piste Performance is below the already lame average for the Technical category. Disdainful of slow speeds, the X9 is “a strong ski that requires a good skill set,” advises another evaluator. “Great edge hold and torsional rigidity, a race-like ski for the weekend warrior.”