Skiing the Stöckli Laser AX is an experience unlike any other. A lot of skis in this genre, particularly among our Power Picks, borrow from race room technology; the Laser AX skis like it is a race ski, only wider. It seems to beg the skier to go a little faster, find a little more speed at the top of the turn, hold a little cleaner arc at the bottom, be fearless. It wants you to go faster if only to prove that it will remain utterly composed, cutting deep into hard snow as if were trying to make it bleed.

In their ceaseless effort to make better skis, Stöckli elected last year to apply a new technology to the already immaculate Laser AX. Called “turtle shell technology,” it was developed in collaboration with the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos. It consists of a serpentine channel cut into the top layer of Titanal at both the forebody and rear. The gap is filled with a rubber-like material, similar to the polymer used in the turtle shell. When the ski is loaded, the act of flexing closes the gap, stiffening the ski and magnifying edge hold. When the load is released, the Titanal returns to its rest position, making the ski softer and easier to steer into the next turn.

And what does the skier feel? Like he’s flowing downhill on an endless wave. It’s effortlessness squared. Jack Walzer of Jan’s was instantly smitten by the AX, calling it, “Awesome! My favorite Frontside ski, period. Does everything you ask of it when you ask it.” Matt Finnegan of Footloose concurs, labeling the Laser AX, “Absolutely flawless. Cuts through hard snow like diamond on glass.”

It’s not often in life that we get to experience what it’s like to have absolute power at our disposal.   The Laser AX is built to reward power with power, magnifying the efforts of the expert skier exponentially. If you’re ego is feeling a bit bruised, a run on the Laser AX will restore your self-confidence. Yes, the Laser AX costs a mint, but it’s cheaper than psychotherapy and a hell of a lot more fun.