2018 Editors’ Choice Awards: All-Mountain Skis

This year, we’re mixing things up. We’ve historically organized skis solely based on width, but we’ve realized this approach can ignore a ski’s purpose. So for 2018, we dove into the psyche of our testers—who hammered the slopes of Powder Mountain, Utah for a week in March—to hone in on what skis were best suited to certain pursuits.

Here are our all-mountain favorites.

These are the happy-medium skis; the one-quiver boards; the jacks-of-all-trades and masters of none. They’re neither the widest nor the narrowest (106 to 93 mm underfoot), forgoing deep-snow flotation and svelte touring weights for well-rounded, all-conditions prowess—inbounds and out, uphill in down, in sickness and in health.

Want to see in-depth tester feedback on these products? Buy a copy of the 2018 Gear Guide, packed with reviews of all the Editors’ Choice winners, plus more than 200 other must-have skis, splitboards, boots, bindings, apparel and accessories.


DPS Zelda A106

$1,299 – dpsskis.com | SIZES (cm): 158, 168, 178 | DIMENSIONS (mm): 130/106/120 | WEIGHT/PAIR: 7.6 lbs. (168)

Bottom Line: “Playful, quick edge to edge and stable at speed.” —Holly Howard

Available on Amazon

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Black Crows Navis Freebird

$800 black-crows.com | SIZES (cm): 169.4, 179.4, 185.4 | DIMENSIONS (mm): 133/102/118 | WEIGHT/PAIR: 7.4 lbs. (179.4)

Bottom Line: “If there is something the Navis Freebird can’t do, we couldn’t find it.”

Available on Amazon

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Dynastar Legend X 96

$800 dynastar.com | SIZES (cm): 165, 171, 178, 186 | DIMENSIONS (mm): 132/96/112 | WEIGHT/PAIR: 7.7 lbs. (178)

Bottom Line: “A do-it-all option that slices crud as well as it floats.”

Available on Amazon

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Comments

  1. Have you all test RENOUN yet? Their skis are in a class all their own. Definitely worth a look. renoun.com

    • Tyler Cohen says:

      We tested a few options from Renoun last year and reviewed their Endurance 98 in this season’s Gear Guide. “Stable at speed and easy to lay train tracks on,” one tester said.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Dynastar’s Legend X 96 skis were named by Back Country Magazine as one of their Editor’s Picks for Best All-Mountain […]

  2. […] Dynastar’s Legend X 96 skis were named by Back Country Magazine as one of their Editor’s Picks for Best All-Mountain […]

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