Like most Frontside skis, the Vantage X 86 CTi features an almost fully cambered baseline, with only a smidgeon of tip rocker. Unlike most Frontside skis, it has a fairly narrow tip (121.5mm) and an overall slender silhouette that suggests it doesn’t like to stray far from the fall line. When you fire this arrow downhill, it proves to be responsive, smooth and above all, light. Compared to other skis with a carve-centric attitude, the Vantage X 86 CTi feels like it weighs next to nothing. Because it doesn’t have a lot of beef on its bones, the Vantage X 86 CTi feels easy to bow and maneuver without much effort, making it a good Power ski for a Finesse skier.
Even though its HRZN Tech tip and tail are built to drift first and think about carving, well, never, the BC 100 nevertheless doesn’t feel squirrelly or hard to manage. Au contraire, it seems up for anything that doesn’t entail being bored to death on groomers. “This was a nice surprise, a perfect balance between stability and playfulness,” says Kelli Gleason of Telluride’s Boot Doctors. Her Dad, the ever-ebullient Bob, also pegs playfulness as a cornerstone quality: “In the blending of playfulness mixed with precision, these are the top of the heap. Easy to ski in variable conditions,” he adds.
A ski is always more than just its shape, but shape is the main reason the Dynastar Legend W 84 takes top honors for Finesse properties among women’s Frontside skis. Like all the Legends, the W 84 uses a 5-point sidecut that essentially creates a ski within a ski. The widest points at tip and tail are moved closer to the center, so the extremities aren’t connected to the sidecut in the middle that defines turn shape. This allows a ski with a 84mm waist to have a sidecut radius of 12m – less than a World Cup slalom – yet possess the surface area that helps it earn best-in-class marks for Off-Piste Performance.
Dynastar doesn’t differentiate between its men’s and women’s Legend models; goose and gander get the same ski in a 166cm and 173cm. This means no skimping on the two layers of Titanal or subtle detuning of its signature Powerdrive feature. Given the pliability Powerdrive provides, the Legend X design might be better suited to the fairer sex. Instead of a greeting an immoveable terrain feature with a stiff, coiled spring, Powerdrive reacts by flowing with it, letting the camber zone underfoot maintain the snow connection and define the turn radius. The twin Titanal layers contribute torsional rigidity, mass and vibration damping.
Only available in a 189cm length, the Proto Factory performs like a Technical ski in a fat suit. Despite its bulbous girth, it readily responds to its pilot’s carving intentions, getting into the turn as soon as its rockered and tapered tip permits. The midsection of its 5-point sidecut is powerful, energetic and totally trustworthy. Ready to break into a smear or cut into a carve on a moment’s notice, the Proto Factory is a decathlete of off-trail skiing.
