When you examine a pair of Black Crows Daemon’s base-to-base, you can’t help but notice the baseline is so rockered it could be marketed as “endless rocker.” How can a ski with so little snow contact manage to earn a solid overall score and high Power rating? The Daemon’s secret is its pre-bent shape means it’s arcing before you are. As long as the snow isn’t bulletproof, the full curve underfoot grips the snow from just behind the shovel to the very end.
If there’s one word that captures the Dictator 2.0’s personality it’s “combi.” It feels quick edge to edge like a slalom, yet as you increase turn radius and speed, it morphs into a GS ski. No matter how you like to ski, you don’t have to change to love the Dictator 2.0. You can just go ski. Bob Gleason of Boot Doctors pinpoints the Dictator 2.0’s profile: “A bit more traditional in feel than other Faction models. Smooth and substantial. Strong at speed. Powerfully predictable yet not overbearing.”
In its prior life as the Century 102, the Backland FR 102 W offered the best cost/value relationship in the genre; last season, Atomic sweetened the deal. The addition of the Carbon Backbone adds more muscle and pop without any negative side effects. The Backland with a Backbone is still a superior choice for the lighter weight woman, such as a teenager getting her first off-trail ski.
To bring out its best qualities, the Vantage X 83 CTi needs to run at a respectable speed. To help encourage acceleration, the ski cuts a relatively shallow arc when riding a low edge. To cut a tidier corner requires the skier to commit to a higher edge angle, which brings out the ski’s best behavior. If this sounds like the Vantage X 83 CTi is geared for the experienced skier who likes to have some wind in his sails, well, it is. With only a dab of tip rocker, its baseline is made to connect with hard snow and its Carbon Tank Mesh and Titanium Backbone ensures the integrity of this connection throughout the recreational speed range.
The speeds this ski is ready to assume demand precision; events come at you quickly once you exceed 50mph. The relationship between ski and skier was like that between maestro and musician; when we work together, the music we make would make angels lay down their lyres to listen. Which of us was in charge didn’t seem to matter in the moment, as long as the notes we strung together formed a lilting melody. If you’re a former racer, you won’t need any introduction to the Redster G9. It will feel like what you used to race on, only smoother, less perturbed by rutted terrain and quicker on and off the edge when faster reactions are called for. If you’ve always loved the feel of a GS race ski, you’ll be head-over-heels over the G9.