The defining feature of the Sheeva 10 is also its most obvious, a top layer of Titanal that runs virtually edge to edge underfoot and tapers to a central tongue that terminates halfway up the forebody and down towards the tail. The partial laminate of metal simultaneously serves two purposes: it magnifies torsional strength where it’s widest while allowing the rest of the ski to go with the flow. The tapered tip isn’t itching to dip into a turn and the tail isn’t the clinging type. This freedom to deflect helps the Sheeva 10 to drift over ratty terrain as if it were level.

The Sheeva 10’s ability to deliver the stability of a metal ski and the playfulness and ease of glass and carbon in a single package is recreated in a larger format, the Sheeva 11 (140/112/130). While in the Big Mountain world greater girth is sometime associated with greater ease, the metal underfoot in the Sheeva 11 “makes it ski way wider than a 112,” says Lauren Takayesu of Footloose, “but still easy to negotiate for the lady ripper.”

For most women, the Sheeva 10 provides plenty of flotation. After a certain point, extra surface area extracts more effort to toss around than it offers in relief. For finding the right balance between off-trail facility and edge control, we again recognize the Sheeva 10 as a Silver Skier Selection.