Blizzard applied its Women’s Specific Design (WSD) to the 2017 Sheeva, conducting a tip-to-tail makeover of what was already a very pretty ski. The 2017 Sheeva retains the sidecut and baseline of its older incarnation, but its core is now comprised of heavier woods (poplar-beech vs. poplar-bamboo-Paulownia) and the entire ski is encased in a carbon frame, a concept lifted from Blizzard’s Zero G backcountry collection.

The new Sheeva is an example of an increasingly common phenomenon: the intersection of women’s ski design and the recent explosion in backcountry R&D. Both domains depend on lightweight as a central feature, but you’re unlikely to see the all-business Zero G collection adopt Sheeva’s sassy twin-tip attitude. Its surfy baseline is insanely easy to push around in powder, but there’s enough camber underfoot to keep it on course when the powder is kaput.