As is often the case with new technologies, Liberty has spent the last couple of years trying to find the best formula for its Vertical Metal Technology (VMT), settling this season on a three-struct configuration in its all-mountain evolv series. The vertical strips of alu are encased in bamboo stringers within a bamboo and poplar core that’s reinforced with carbon and glass. It’s a very rich and sophisticated construction that rises well above the norm among indie brands.
As executed in the evolv 100, VMT accentuates its carving traits, tipping its on-/off-trail ratio towards rocking groomers over ripping up crud. In a category in which most models can’t wait to smear, the evolv 100 prefers to carve, slicing long arcs (19m@179cm) that don’t deviate far from the fall line. To tighten your turns, apply a higher edge angle.
The evolv 100 skis best when the skier is pressing forward into the tip, as one would on a Technical ski, as opposed to the more centered stance favored by all-terrain skiers. Its insistence on carving and snow connection limits its enthusiasm for foot-swiveling and smearing, and it’s not light enough to throw sideways on a whim. Its unusual amalgam of traits gives the evolv 100 a unique dedication to snow connection among skis 100mm wide.
There’s a trail of clues that would lead a ski behavioral therapist to believe that the Völkl Deacon 80 is the inferior in the relationship with its bigger brother, the Deacon 84. For starters, there’s its price, which works out to $100 less at retail. Price is usually an indicator of the cost of goods, and sure enough, the Deacon 80 uses glass for its 3-piece top laminate instead of the Titanal in the 84. And the Deacon 80 is, of course, narrower, which among carving skis can sometimes indicate that it’s geared slightly lower.
The 80 copies the 3D.Ridge and 3D.Glass construction of the 84, it has exactly the same size splits (ranging from 162cm to 182cm) and while it’s slimmer, it’s thinner by the same 4mm everywhere, so its sidecut radii are also identical to the 84’s. Alert readers will note the reference to “radii” in the last sentence, for the Deacon 80 also mimics the 3D Radius Sidecut of its big bro. The multi-radius shape is what gives the Deacon 80 the ability to make short turns or long on a whim; when the skier applies the additional edge angle needed to execute a tidy turn, it automatically activates the tighter-radius mid-section. Flatten out the ski and it reverts to a comfortable, long-radius cruiser.
Last season we opined in this space that this descendant of an off-trail brood looks out of place among carvers with an on-trail pedigree. How does a ski whose Flipcore baseline is practically already bowing manage to mingle with the second cousins of true race skis? It still seems like the Brahma 82 is trying to crash a party hosted by club to which it doesn’t belong.
In its quest to prove it belongs, the 21/22 Brahma 82 added another line to its resume. This year its core design upgraded to TrueBlend, Blizzard’s way of micro-managing its poplar and beech laminates to produce the optimal flex pattern for every length. It bears mention that the rest of the Brahma 82’s lay-up is mostly made up of carbon and 2 ½ layers of Titanal, as rich a construction as you’ll find in the genre.
With its off-trail, Flipcore baseline, the Brahma 82 is one of the few Frontside skis that actually feels made for moguls. It double-rockered baseline slithers around in torturous troughs that many carvers can’t conform to. Even though it’s more than capable of holding its own on hardpack, it’s actually bred for the backcountry. It doesn’t look at moguls and crud as trouble city, but like a hometown playground. Not many other skis in the Frontside genre have this ability to perform at a high level in any terrain.
The S/Force Bold is an unapologetic Frontside carver. If you want to find out how deep a new snowfall is, take a run on the S/Force Bold and you’re almost certain to find the bottom. Any ski this stable can make its way through off-trail porridge, but it will send out the occasional reminder that you’re running against its grain. The reason the S/Force Bold is laden with dampening agents and associated avoirdupois is to maximize edging power and stability on hard snow, which is its happy place.
When it’s running fast and loose in its element, the S/Force Bold is “damp, stable, with very strong edge hold,” says Bobo’s Pat Parraguirre, identifying its dominant traits. “If you like speed and grip – this ski is for you! Great high-speed carver.” Note that Pat didn’t mention short, slow turns on his list of likes, for the S/Force Bold shows its disdain for their ilk by ignoring them entirely.
Longtime fans of Salomon skis will remember the Enduro, its last Frontside series to make bombproof long turns. The S/Force Bold represents a return to this type of damp, dedicated carver after several generations of lighter weight solutions. In a laid-over, big-bellied arc it’s as secure and comfortable as riding in the back of a limo.
The edge grip of RC One 82 GT is to die for. On a steep pitch where other Frontside specialists would flinch, it held with far less exertion. This is precisely the mission of the Frontside ski: to magnify the skier’s energy rather than drain it. The extra weight this ski hauls around helps a ton when it comes to sticking to a pencil-thin line on hardpack. Its sidecut and construction deliver an ultra-secure, short-radius turn; its shock-sucking mass and materials keep it quiet when you let it run.
Given its origins and substantial construction, you’d expect the RC One 82 GT to be “a blast at speed as much as mellow cruising,” as Ward Pyles of Peter Glenn discovered. “Super quick edge to edge,” he adds. “Fast, quick, rips everything,” concurs a Jan’s tester, whose boss, Jack Walzer managed to be even more succinct. Walzer’s one-word review: “Money.”
What makes the RC One 82 GT rise above the mundane and into the “money” class is how well its carve-centric personality travels. When pointed down Broken Arrow at Squaw Valley late on a spring morning, the snow on its exposed flank had turned to a slurry that peeled off when pushed. The RC One 82 GT never asked for special treatment but kept it moving through heavy snow that would have submerged a more persnickety carver.
