The Stormrider 83 isn’t a Frontside ski. In Stöckli’s European collection, it’s categorized as a mountaineering ski, which is about as far from the Frontside genre as it’s possible to wander. The Stormrider 83 is listed in this genre by dint of its 83mm waist, but it’s really an off-trail ski that happens to handle Frontside conditions just fine.

The reason the Stormrider 83 can hold its own against a field of skis designed expressly for the Frontside milieu is because it’s a typically rich, metal-laden, Stöckli construction that wasn’t built to caress the snow but to subjugate it. It doesn’t have to change its normal behavior just because the snow under its bases switches from fluffy to firm.

Another reason the Stormrider 83 succeeds as a Frontside carver is a sidecut with an affinity for short turns despite a 17.2m radius in a 174cm. Christian from California Ski Company confirms its tight-turn credentials: “Such a sick short-radius ski. Anything can be a slalom course on these.” At heart a slalom ski personality trapped in an off-road body, the Stormrider 83 is ideal for the skier who is only running laps on groomers until the patrol opens up the backside.