There’s an easy-skiing flow to the Ripstick 96, supple, smooth and graceful. “Hard to lose your smile while riding this ski,” confides Scott Sahr from Aspen Ski and Board. “The Ripstick is the perfect balance of stability and lightweight construction,” he adds, concluding, “There’s very little this ski can’t do.”

A docile yet secure ride that’s ideally suited to the Finesse skier, the Ripstick 96 is noticeably lightweight. The core consists of tip-to-tail carbon tubes, with composite inserts at the extremities to further trim mass. The Ripstick 96 is also an Amphibio model, meaning the outside edge is slightly rockered while the inside edge remains cambered all the way into the shovel. This contributes to the effortless, almost lazy ease with which the Ripstick 96 transports its pilot. As one of Scott’s compatriots at Aspen Ski and Board commented, “It’s one of those skis that you get on they practically carry down the slope as if on a cloud.”