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In February, our team of听testers headed to Steamboat Springs, Colorado,听to try out new skis from every major brand in the industry. Over four days, each tester rode roughly 80 skis鈥攁bout 22 per day. Here鈥檚 a look at how it all went听down.

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Each February for the past ten听years, 国产吃瓜黑料 and have met up at Snowbird, Utah, to test skis. This year听we met with reps from 25 ski companies and set out to test dozens of new models. Over three days, our testers sample听as many as 18 pairs of skis each. For this review, we鈥檝e focused on skis that performed well in a听wide range of conditions and terrain types. Our favorite pair of skis听for all-mountain use, V枚lkl鈥檚 M5 Mantra, was one of the听most versatile skis in this test, equally as comfortable on hardpack as it is in fresh powder. Here鈥檚 a deep dive on the M5, plus six other models more specialized to either hardpack or powder听but with the versatility to perform on any day.

Best All-Mountain Ski

V枚lkl M5 Mantra ($700)

V枚lkl has been building and revising a ski called the 听for 12 years. This year鈥檚 version, the M5, is brand-new, and we think it鈥檚 the best new ski of the year. Over the past decade, the ski industry has tried to turn every ski into a powder ski, and in keeping with that trend, the Mantra grew steadily fatter and more rockered. In reality听though, most all-mountain skis need to rip groomed or packed snow about half the time, and fat, heavily rockered skis aren鈥檛 great at that. The new M5 reflects this听understanding. Its sidecut is a bit deeper, it has camber underfoot, and its 96-millimeter waist is now four millimeters narrower than last year鈥檚 version. These changes give the M5 more rebound on hard snow听and let it glide better and maintain more contact with the snow while up on edge.

What makes it stand apart from others in its class is its physical construction. V枚lkl is famous for building damp, stable skis with wood cores sandwiched between two sheets of titanium alloy. For the M5, V枚lkl developed what it听calls听Titanal Frame, a sandwich setup with the metal installed around the perimeter of the ski鈥檚 fore and aft sections, shedding weight from the center line. As a result, the M5 is a modest but noticeable 50 grams lighter in each ski compared with its predecessor. Meanwhile, the tip has听some carbon fiber, consistent with current industry trends, which makes it a little easier to initiate turns.

Out on the hill, the M5 was the most versatile ski of the test. It鈥檚 damp, meaning it doesn鈥檛 chatter or transmit vibrations, but still lively. It floats in resort powder听but carves like a ski built for hardpack. 鈥淚t鈥檚 lightweight and precise at the same time,鈥� said one of our听testers. 鈥淚 expected it to carve well, but I was surprised by how well it runs off-trail. Any skilled skier could excel on it. The sweet spot is huge.鈥� Dimensions: 134/96/117

Best All-Mountain Ski for听Aggressive Skiers

Blizzard Bonafide ($700)

Last year, Blizzard introduced a freeride line of skis designed to be surfier and more playful than its听line of all-mountain freeride skis. , with its longer effective-edge length and deeper sidecut, is part of the all-mountain line, and we thought it remained fun in deep snow while becoming noticeably more stable on hardpack.

Like the M5 Mantra鈥攁nd just about every modern all-mountain ski鈥攖he Bonafide has carbon fiber in the tips to reduce swing weight, and its profile includes both rocker and camber. The difference between these skis is power output. While the Mantra accommodates a wider range of skier types, the Bonafide is built for skiers who charge hard. You either need to be big, fast, or both听for this ski to perform. 鈥淵ou can go full tilt off-trail or on,鈥� said one tester. And while plowing through chunks of unruly snow,听said another, 鈥渢he Bonafide is a cruel steamroller.鈥�

The Bonafide is built with a beech and poplar core and two sheets of titanium alloy. We鈥檇 recommend it听as a daily driver for skiing in the West, where we鈥檇 expect to use it 70 percent of the time off-trail, slashing turns in chalky alpine snow or using those lightweight rockered tips to pivot through loosely spaced steep bumps. On trail, it arcs a fun GS turn, but even with the added sidecut, it鈥檚 not an all-day carver so much as an all-day high-speed cruiser that can really lay it over in a turn. With a 98-millimeter waist, it鈥檚 not a powder ski, but it鈥檚 a pretty good one-ski quiver if you live in a place where the snowmaking equipment only comes out in the fall听and if you鈥檙e willing to sacrifice a little performance on the truly deep days. Dimensions: 135/98/119

Best All-Mountain Powder Ski 听

K盲stle BMX105 HP ($1,149)

The first thing to address about the听听is that it鈥檚 at least $300 more expensive than the average ski in this category. That fact left a few broke ski testers wondering how they鈥檇 ever buy a pair. According to K盲stle, the听sticker price reflects a high level of handwork,听and the materials come out of an elite race-room shop in Austria (HP stands for high performance). K盲stle听constructed听the BMX105 HP with silver fir and beech cores instead of cheaper woods, and the bases are cut from the same sintered graphite that World Cup athletes run. (Sintering means baking a powder into a solid.) Even the sidewalls and edge material are spec鈥檇 from high-grade stock. Ultimately, that should produce a long-lasting ski that听delivers energy return and stability after other skis have gone soft and dead. We鈥檝e put three years of hard skiing on a pair of K盲stles with this same build, and they鈥檝e shown no loss of life.

But durability wouldn鈥檛 matter if the BMX105s didn鈥檛 ski well, and they did,听earning the听second-highest scores in our all-mountain powder test at Snowbird. The Hollowtech听tips (swing-weight reduction again) make them nimble, and the big-turn radius (21 meters in the 181-centimeter length) lets you run them in breakable crust and weird alpine snow without feeling hooky. Said a tester: 鈥淩ipped everywhere and was super forgiving even while it displayed no speed limits. It鈥檚 easy to initiate turns, and it doesn鈥檛 mind if you want to drive the tail through the transition. You could ski it in a big-mountain comp or just cruise around.鈥� So who should buy it? Anybody with resources, first of all. But especially people who spend most of their ski days at big western resorts that see ample snowfall, like Fernie, Jackson, the gems of Little Cottonwood, and Squaw Valley. Oh, and that person should be adept at avoiding rocks and keeping their gear well honed for the long term. As for body types, the 105 has range: our biggest, strongest, and fastest skier had it as his top pick, as did a lightweight tester who prefers to slash rather carve his turns. 鈥淪table at all speeds, but slices and dices pow in the trees, too,鈥� said a tester. 鈥淚f you like a ski that never gets bucked around, look here.鈥� Dimensions: 134/105/123

Best All-Mountain Frontside Ski

Rossignol Experience 88 Ti ($750)

Rossignol鈥檚 redesigned 听is a top pick if you live and ski in New England, or even Summit County, Colorado, during a dry year.

We liked former听versions of the Experience line, but it had grown dated, largely because of an extended sidecut that brought the widest part of the ski to the very tip. That made for fun carving, but off-trail that much sidecut made the Experience line tough to handle. The fix: taking a cue from its听7 Series powder skis, Rossignol built the new Experience line with subtle tapering in the tip and tail. With the new design, it鈥檚 actually more fun to rip听around on groomed snow, and it鈥檚 way more nimble off-trail in variable snow and terrain, which allowed听testers to butter and dump speed听or redirect to a better line.

The ski has been improved with what Rossignol is calling line control technology (LCT). LCT is a central rail that reduces the counter flexing of the ski at the apex of the turn, smoothing out the ride and boosting edge grip. Another update includes听new dampeners made from a viscous compound, which we thought may have added to the 88鈥檚 ability to hook up and hold on. 鈥淧erfect carving on-trail,鈥� said a tester. 鈥淚t absolutely rails turns, but the flex is smooth and accessible, and you can sluff the tips and tails around if you need to bail out.鈥� As for who should buy it, the door is open. It鈥檚 a one-ski-quiver tool for the biggest chunk of the market, but if you already own a pair of fat skis (over 100 millimeters underfoot), the new 88 will complete your quiver and make days with packed snow all that more fun. 鈥淭his ski rips,鈥� said a tester. 鈥淪o easy to get up on edge, but you can slink through bumps and trees, too.鈥� Dimensions: 140/86/130

Best Backcountry Crossover Ski

Black Diamond Boundary Pro 107 ($749)

It鈥檚 been awhile since a ski from Black Diamond has impressed our testers. Recently, however, BD shifted its ski production from China to Blizzard鈥檚 factory in Austria, and the quality of the finished product improved fivefold.

The , which was redesigned with a poplar core, has a comfortable sweet spot鈥攜ou can easily find the center of the flex鈥攃oupled with a damp but lively听ride听and solid edge hold. (The same could not be said of previous BDs.) We鈥檙e featuring the Boundary Pro here as a backcountry crossover ski because it鈥檚 lightweight enough for touring听and because of its shape. The more you ski off-trail, the less sidecut you want, as deep sidecuts get hooky in weird wind- and sun-affected wild snow. In the 184-centimeter length we tested, the turn radius is a long 20 meters. But here鈥檚 the thing: the Boundary Pro鈥檚 ample tip and tail rocker, abetted by tapering in the same zones, made it easy to pivot and smear at will. These are vital qualities in the backcountry, where the tightest trees are often the only safe way down. On hardpack, you can check turns with confidence, but you can鈥檛 settle into a deep arc. It鈥檚 a touring ski for folks who care far more about shredding than setting uphill speed records. We鈥檇 pair it with a Salomon Shift binding (the best crossover binding ever built) and ski it all day long in places like Revelstoke or Silverton. 鈥淥ne of the top off-trail skis of the day,鈥� said one tester. 鈥淟oose and slinky in tight places, damp and easy to steer in the wide-open alpine, tons of rocker and taper for surfing pow.鈥� Dimensions: 138/107/123

How We Test Skis

Typically, around 25 ski manufacturers bring their entire fleets to our annual test, which means more than 250 pairs of skis. For three days, testers grab skis from a rack, quickly adjust the bindings, skate to the lifts, burn a lap on varied terrain appropriate for the category, swap skis, and repeat, all the while taking notes. This happens up to 18 times a day, for something like 100,000 vertical feet of shredding. It usually dumps powder on us, which is the best perk. Back at the home office, we pour a mountain of data into spreadsheets and tabulate winners and losers.

How to Choose a Pair of Skis

Buying skis can be confusing. But it gets easier if you read the above reviews and ask yourself two key questions:听

Am I adding to a quiver听or replacing the daily driver that I ski on 80 percent of the time?

If you鈥檙e looking to round out a quiver, you鈥檙e probably in the market for a specialty ski built wide for powder or thin for carving turns on hardpack鈥攕kis that are beyond the purview of this review. Such skis excel in very specific conditions听but tend to flounder in routine all-mountain conditions. But if you ski a ton, pure powder and pure frontside skis can really liven up your ski action. If you鈥檙e looking for a one-ski quiver, it鈥檚 time for question two, which is a two-parter.

Where do I ski the most, and what are my favorite conditions?

How you answer these听prompts determines whether you鈥檙e in the market for an all-mountain powder ski (around 105 millimeters underfoot), an all-mountain ski (around 95 millimeters), or an all-mountain frontside ski (around 85 millimeters). These versatile skis are all built similarly, but they鈥檙e distinguished by waist width and depth of rocker. If you live near a steep and deep resort like Alta, Alpine Meadows, Jackson, or Mammoth, and ski off-trail most of the time, a chubby all-mountain powder ski with a healthy dose of rocker might be your daily driver. If you live in a place with moderate snowfall (Summit County, Colorado, we鈥檙e looking at you), then look for an all-mountain ski, one that鈥檚 a touch skinnier and with听less rocker, which will let you mix up on-trail and off-trail skiing. And if you live where machine-groomed hardpack and chalky tree skiing is more common than bottomless blower鈥攕ay, the East Coast鈥攜ou should start with all-mountain frontside skis with just a hint of rocker and a waist width that makes for easy and powerful edging. They鈥檙e still all-mountain skis, they just let you better rip carved turns, bumps, and tight trees when you aren鈥檛 storm skiing.

What to听Look for in Skis

Stiffness

Back in the day听when everyone skied on modified slalom and GS skis, stiffness was often the deciding factor in ski selection. Today, though, unless you鈥檙e either extralarge and powerful or petite and laid-back, almost all recreational all-mountain skis are built with a round-turn flex that鈥檚 accessible to most skiers. (Meaning听you don鈥檛 need to actively muscle them to get them to arc turns.) Think you need a softer or stiffer ski? Before you change models, consider changing lengths. See the next entry.

Length

Thanks to a smart blend of rocker, taper, sidecut, and new materials, modern all-mountain skis are stable but lively, surfy but powerful, and dynamic but not demanding. A side benefit to all that innovation? We can ski them shorter than skis made 15 years ago. But don鈥檛 throw out all reason in the process. Ski-size charts like are a good place to start, but while they鈥檙e close to spot-on for easy-skiing intermediates, they tend to run five to ten听centimeters short for aggressive experts. Also know that flex patterns (stiffness again) typically change with length, so if you want a stiffer ski, you might want a longer ski that鈥檚 designed for a bigger skier, too, and vice versa. 听

Sidecut

Sidecut is the hourglass shape of a ski. When you put a ski on edge and bend it into a carved turn on packed snow, the depth or radius of that sidecut helps to determine if you鈥檙e going to make a short (14-meter) turn or a long (20-meter) arc. Counterintuitively, in powder, bumps, and trees, less sidecut can make for quicker turns: in those conditions, you aren鈥檛 carving so much as pivoting or floating your turns, and in soft snow, less sidecut helps a ski cut loose. In general, though, opt for more aggressive sidecuts if you live for arcing race turns on groomers, and opt for less cut if you prefer to ski off-trail in soft snow. Backcountry skis typically offer the least amount of sidecut, because excessive hourglassing can cause the ski to catch unexpectedly in weird backcountry snow.

Rocker

It鈥檚 subtle on most skis, but rocker is that three-dimensional shaping reminiscent of the upturned nose of a surfboard or the hull of a rodeo kayak. Just a hint of rocker makes it easier to tip an all-mountain ski on edge to carve turns. Deeper rocker, meanwhile, helps float a ski to the surface of soft snow and gives a ski a surfy or slashy feel in powder. As with width, you want more rocker for pure powder skiing and less rocker for pure carving, where it can make a ski feel less stable at high speed.

Weight

All skis are getting lighter these days, and in general we think that鈥檚 a good thing. Women are now able to run gear that鈥檚 proportionally more in line with their body weight. In-bounds skiers who hike for their turns benefit from skis that are easier to shoulder. Backcountry skiers obviously need lighter skis for touring uphill. And slightly lighter skis can feel more playful off-trail in soft snow. But unless you鈥檙e a ski-mountaineer racer, buying skis based solely on weight is a bad idea. Eventually, shaving weight comes at the expense of stability and dampness, and many skiers know that feathery backcountry planks听tend to skitter on resort hardpack. And听of course, even the heaviest wood and metal skis don鈥檛 feel heavy when you鈥檙e riding lifts and going 45 miles an hour on groomers. If you rarely hike, weight isn鈥檛 much of an issue.

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We recently sent reporter to Aspen, Colorado hoping the kind folks听in this ski town could help him define some of backcountry skiing鈥檚 more arcane lingo. Watch to see whether he got the help he needed, and check out听The Backcountry Skier鈥檚 Dictionary听for full definitions.

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Thanks to a plethora of new materials, skis are getting way more versatile.

Blizzard Rustler 10 ($780)

鈥淪ki of the future.鈥� When multiple test cards make that claim, you know an engineer just blew up the status quo of ski design. That鈥檚 the case with the Rustler 10. Until now, strong western skiers had to choose between burly big-mountain sticks made for charging steeps and playful freeride ones built to pivot and slough. Austria-based Blizzard decided to fill this void. Thanks to an entirely new construction with carbon in the rockered tip and tail, metal in the midbody, and a light wood core backed by a woven carbon layer everywhere else, the Rustler is easy to throw around in soft stuff, while still retaining Blizzard鈥檚 legendary thumping straight-line stability. We couldn鈥檛 find a type of terrain or skiing style that it didn鈥檛 excel at. Even cooler, the skis in the Rustler line鈥攆rom 164 centimeters to 188鈥攆eature progressively fatter dimensions, so that the float is the same for somebody who鈥檚 150 pounds as it is for someone who鈥檚 210. Essentially, you鈥檙e buying custom skis. It鈥檚 the best one-ski quiver we鈥檝e ever tried. 鈥淭he most fun I鈥檝e had all week,鈥� said a tester who logs 150 days a year. 133/102/122

Salomon QST Stella 106 ($850)

Best For: Off-trail exploration.

The听Test: The top-scoring ski on this page, the QST Stella is damp yet lively, stable yet nimble. 鈥淎mazingly agile, but the Stella digs deep trenches on edge, too,鈥� said a tester. Those properties are attributed to the French brand鈥檚 new superfiber, which blends powerful, energetic carbon with lightweight flax. The material allows for less metal in the ski鈥檚 body, to keep the weight down and the dynamic feel up, though there is a single sheet of Titanal. On-trail, it could use a bit more energy return during a turn, but off-trail we found it excelled at hopping from trees to chutes to alpine faces.

The Verdict: Look here if you head straight to the back bowls each day. 138/106/125

Rossignol Soul 7 HD ($850)

Best听For:听Shredding powder in glades.

The听Test:听The old Soul 7 was the best tree-navigating powder ski we ever tested. The new Soul 7 HD is that plus a whole lot more. Rossi reinvented this wildly popular stick by incorporating new materials. The old Air Tip is gone, replaced with the 2.0 version, which is both lighter and stronger. On the hill, that translates to a more solid ride capable of blasting through crud. The entire ski feels more stable, thanks to the use of a new carbon-alloy weave. This construction boosts confidence when you鈥檙e wailing at speed through powder and when you鈥檙e knocking off metronome groomer turns. It鈥檚 a burlier ski all around, but don鈥檛 get us wrong: it鈥檚 still damn fun. It just no longer comes with a speed limit.听

The Verdict: Still the most playful all-mountain pow ski we鈥檝e ever tried. 136/106/126

Nordica Enforcer 110 ($849)

Best听For: Your next trip to Jackson Hole.

The听Test: Once snowpacks hit the 50-inch mark, the new Enforcer 110 is the only ski you need to haul to the hill. Our Snowbird testers praised it for its spot-on balance of stability and playfulness as they flowed from wet corn to firm groomers. As for powder, well, one tester couldn鈥檛 stop raving about how it slunk through steep trees like a pure freeride model, then locked into a big arc on an open face. Much of the credit for that adaptability goes to the construction, which features a lightweight wood core reinforced by a layer cake of carbon and metal. But it鈥檚 the Enforcer line鈥檚 shape that achieves most of the performance. A blunt tip and tail let the ski enter and exit turns with power or finesse.听

The Verdict: If you spend 80 percent of your time hunting soft snow, chutes, and headwalls, demo the Enforcer. 140/110/129

Fischer Pro MTN 95 Ti ($849)

Best听For: Carving it up when it鈥檚 not totally dumping.

The听Test: The rockered carbon-fiber tip on the Pro MTN turns what would be a hard-to-handle fat carving ski into a fun all-mountain tool. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to muscle your way into the turn at all, but once you鈥檙e on edge, you can lock into a beautiful GS arc,鈥� said a tester. It prefers firm snow and a technical skiing style, but that same tip design keeps it nimble enough off-trail, especially if there鈥檚 an edgeable base beneath the fresh stuff. Fischer鈥檚 low-profile 鈥渞azorshape鈥� lets the听
95 slice through surface snow with very low听resistance. Back on the hard, refrozen morning corn at our test, the wood core and milled titanium internals made it the most adept at hooking up and hanging on.

The Verdict: Spend most of your day听railing groomers but don鈥檛 want to be limited to them? Buy this. 137/95/122

K盲stle FX95 HP ($1,199)

Best听For: Coast-to-coast all-mountain, year-round shredding.

The听Test: There鈥檚 a reason the updated FX95 HP costs $350 more than even the most premium skis: the build. From the vertically laminated silver fir core to the ultrafine graphite racing base to the two sheets of Titanal, this is simply the highest-quality ski you can buy. The old version of the FX95 HP won a Gear of the Year award. The new version is even better. K盲stle subtly increased the flex of this stable ski so it鈥檚 easier to lock into a carve on groomed snow. Yet we didn鈥檛 notice any loss of agility or tracking off-trail. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most powerful ski in the test, but you can slip it around in the trees and bumps, too,鈥� said a tester.

The Verdict: For north of one g, you get superb precision. 126/95/115

Atomic Vantage 95 C W ($600)

Best听For: Anyone who鈥檚 after a ski that does everything well.

The Test: Our testers ask a lot of our all-mountain skis. They need to be equally adept at ripping groomers and everything we find off-trail. The Vantage 95 C W crushed the category. 鈥淔inally, a women鈥檚 ski that feels great on edge but can handle crud snow and bumps, too,鈥� said a tester. The big performance gains come from new materials. In Atomic鈥檚 case, it鈥檚 a new weave called Carbon Tank Mesh that, in the Vantage 95, takes the place of heavy layers of metal. On the hill, you experience a silky, damp ride previously impossible in such a lightweight ski. But it isn鈥檛 a noodle, either: a poplar wood core keeps it tough.

The Verdict: In knee-deep powder or on sheer ice, you鈥檒l feel outgunned. On all other snow types, the Vantage stomped the ten other skis in its category. 132/95/118

Head Wild Joy ($750)

Best For: Extreme versatility.

The听Test: The new Wild Joy is in our all-mountain frontside category, but it could just as easily compete with the true all-mountain sticks. First, there鈥檚 the waist width: 90 millimeters underfoot was once considered a fat ski, so there鈥檚 plenty of flotation here for most powder days. But, thanks to Head鈥檚 use of graphene (a super颅light, superstrong carbon) and Koroyd听(a honeycomb polymer that eats vibration while saving weight), the Wild Joy is nimble to steer and quick to get on edge. Once in a turn, the roughly 15-meter sidecut lets you hook up and hold on as you transition from short swing turns to sweeping arcs.听

The Verdict: A ski this fat shouldn鈥檛 carve this well. 139/90/119

Blizzard Brahma ($780)

Best For: Hauling ass.

The听Test: The old Brahma was a testers鈥� favorite. But despite its top-ranking stability scores and damp ride, it didn鈥檛 love carving linked turns. The new Brahma fixes that, and then some. A total reworking of the construction鈥攖he ski gets carbon inserts in the tip and tail鈥攖urned the Brahma into a ripping carver on hardpack. Still, it鈥檚 perfectly adept at slamming bumps or navigating trees and chalky chutes. Two sheets of metal keep it powered up, but those lightweight tips and tails let you pivot at will. 鈥淢ost joyful high-speed carving of the day,鈥� said a tester.听

The Verdict: Strong frontside skiers who like to maintain speed, start here. 127/88/111

Rossignol Experience 88 HD ($800)

Best For: Carving instructor turns.

The听Test: Eighty percent of frontside skiers would be happy 80 percent of the time on the Experience 88 HD. 鈥淓verything about this ski is spot-on,鈥� said a tester. 鈥淚t holds an edge as well as any ski in the class and offers an energetic pop out of the turn.鈥� The rockered honeycomb tip and extra width in the shovel provide easy turn initiation: just roll your ankle to get into an arc. Another superfiber, a carbon-alloy weave, gives the plank enough oomph for hardpack and keeps metal out, without sacrificing stability.

The Verdict: For when there鈥檚 not a foot of fresh, get the Experience 88. 135/88/124

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Each year we head to the mountains to test out dozens of skis for the upcoming season. This year we spent a week at Powder Mountain, Utah, in search of fresh turns and the best new skis for 2017. We were excited to test out the skis, and they didn鈥檛 disappoint. We loved the tapered tips and fun performance in fresh powder. Watch to see what else impressed us about these skis.听

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Each year we head to the mountains to test out dozens of skis for the upcoming season. This year we spent a week at Powder Mountain, Utah, in search of fresh turns and the best new skis for 2017. We had a lot of fun skiing the skis, and found them ideal for backcountry touring. Watch to see what makes these skis a top pick for our tester, Chris Thomas.听

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Each year we head to the mountains to test out dozens of skis for the upcoming season. This year we spent a week at Powder Mountain, Utah, in search of fresh turns and the best new skis for 2017. The La Sportiva Vapor Float skis are incredibly light and proved ideal for touring and powder skiing. Watch to see what our gear tester, Gavin Cooper, loves about these skis.听

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