[The test results for the Yumi represent several seasons of test scores, including 2017; its only changes for 2017 are cosmetic.]

The Yumi can play several different roles in a woman’s life. It can be the first new ski for a teenager who has grown up on hand-me-downs. For the mother who’s watched every other family member get new skis while she’s soldiered on with relics, it can be her first experience with a modern ski. The Yumi is also a great catch for the woman who’s spent her humdrum ski life on groomers and is ready to try an occasional foray off trail.

The Yumi works wonders as a step-up ski for the intermediate skier of any age. It can be skied skillfully or somewhat crudely; the Yumi isn’t judgmental. It’s in the self-esteem business, building a woman’s skills. Once the skier acquires technical talent, the Yumi is ready and able to perform at higher speeds and more exaggerated edge angles.

The Yumi is a odd duck in the Frontside pond in that it isn’t sold as a system. Unbetrothed to any binding, it doesn’t have an interface to deaden its snow feel, giving the Yumi a peppy responsive not normally associated with super damp carvers.

The Yumi is one of the few skis in the women’s Frontside sorority that’s well adapted for all-terrain skiing. Its slight tip rocker slides smoothly up the backsides of bumps and its less radical sidecut helps the Yumi ride a little more evenly through choppy crud. Such forgiveness in the sidecountry is usually associated with a loose connection on hard snow, but the Yumi’s equipoise isn’t perturbed by packed powder, where its continuous sidecut keeps the whole ski connected.

In addition to serving young and old, adept and average, carvers and tree skiers, the Yumi also addresses another key female constituency: bargain hunters. It’s one of the best values in women’s skiing.