The Samba has been dancing around this category for several seasons now, giving us a clear picture of just who belongs on this seductive beauty. You’ve seen her at big mountains like Mammoth and Squaw, dropping her hip within a few cm’s of the slope on every turn, killing it.

If you just poke your way down the hill, you’ll never discover why the most talented lasses love it.  It’s super-high scores for ease of operation should be taken with a grain of salt the size of Gibraltar.  Each score of “10” logged – and there were many – should have carried with it as proviso, “If you know how to ski at level 8 or above…”

If you’ve absorbed all your “dancing” lessons, you’ll love rolling the Samba out on the floor.  Its carving capabilities exceed expectations, and the way it plunders the off-piste is an epiphany.  “Awesome ski,” said Shirley of Footloose, “fun, lively and skied groomers as well as any carver.  Off-piste you could do no wrong.”

Footloose, BTW, sits near the base of Mammoth Mountain, home to some of the best skiing and skiers in North America.  Their employees aren’t there because their doctor recommended the dry mountain air; they ski.  And they ski as if their lives depended on it.

Which is one reason we depend on them.  If the women of Footloose say the Samba is the real deal, you can take it to the bank.