The All-Mountain West category is, or ought to be, the province of advanced to expert skiers with a penchant for the off-piste. If climbing is part of the equation, then weight, or rather, it’s absence, becomes a pivotal issue. But if you’re an in-resort skier, mass can be your friend, particularly when track-riven crud begins to set up. The nearly fat-free Atomic Vantage 97 Ti would rather carve on a groomer than combat crappy old snow that fights back when you hit it.

Eminently turnable, the Vantage 97 Ti is stable enough in soft snow to be comfortable at high speeds, but its feathery weight inhibits its ability to be an elite performer in the most challenging conditions. Lighter weight skiers who will take all the help they can get to bend a ski this wide will embrace the Vantage 97 Ti as a turn enabler; big boys who bust it down the fall line will overpower it.