Daemon
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.
Dictator 3.0
The morning runs couldn’t have been much more ratty, with traces of blown-in snow filling the hollows of week-old tracks. The Dictator 3.0 let me use my bases to feather my line or switch to crisp edges as the moment warranted. They felt inherently light and agile yet whenever the edge hold was challenged, it passed with flying colors. A run that looked as inviting as the seventh ring of Hell turned into a jolly romp. What appeared perilous the Dictator 3.0 turned into a playground.
Anima
The traits that are anathema on hard snow are rejuvenating elixir in the off-trail habitat. The Anima’s soft extremities and limited camber zone create a compliant ski that would rather follow terrain than fight it. Its mutable tip may be mobile, but the Anima imparts a sense of secure edge grip underfoot that endures exposure to ratty terrain. The Anima doesn’t require much impetus to bow into a trustworthy arc that holds its trajectory in rough-and-tumble conditions.
Speed Zone 12 Ti
The Dynastar Speed Zone 12 Ti is the current incarnation of what was once a popular genre, the cruiser. Not as brutish as a race-ready GS ski, the cruiser nonetheless shares the same interests and terrain preferences. It isn’t ashamed to admit that it hates moguls and anything that looks like them, not so much because it couldn’t find its way around the cursed obstacles if so required, but because anything that slows it down is an unwelcome interruption in its course.