D2 VF 70 114-70-99@179 cm | R 18.4 | $1,300 w/b This ski should come with a warning label: for burly boys only. It enters its element only when powered through big turns at big speeds by a big, forceful master. The biggest tester, at 225 pounds, loved it. But the 138-pound tester? Not so much. The big fella called it “super comfortable — a good ski for a good skier,” and the little guy actually agreed, calling it “a big-turn bomber.” That’s either a warning or an invitation.
D2 VF 72 114-72-101.5@164 cm | R 15 | $1,200 w/b Mercy, mercy. If you aren’t ready, willing and able to muscle up and turn push into shove, the D2 VF 72 will have you pleading for mercy. Ladies who like going big, fast and hard will find happiness; slow things down or try to tighten things up, and happiness is much more elusive. Spend a lot of time on Eastern hard snow and groomers? The D2 VF 72 will have you saying, as they might say in Québec, merci.
D2 VF 82 124-82-111@174 cm | R 17 | $1,200 w/b That sound you hear is a big-horsepower engine growling under the hood at near-redline speed. One tester called this an “autobahn ski.” Another tester hyperbolized, describing it as “made for somebody 400 pounds who goes 1,000 mph.” Exaggeration, of course. But you get the idea. Keep the throttle open and the turn radius big, and you’ll motor your way to fulfillment. That second sound you hear could be the racecourse calling. Gentlemen, start your engines.
D2 VF 75W 122-75-109@157 cm | R 12 | $1,000 w/b This is the kind of ski an instructor could fall in love with — exact and precise when demonstrating technique to students at slower speeds, yet robust enough to bomb around the mountain when class is over. If you’re looking for a single, do-all, go-anywhere ski, you’re looking in the right place. One tester called it a “true princess,” another “a true pleasure.” Truly, a ski that meets the definition of all-mountain mastery, and wrapped in a pretty package to boot.
CRIMSON TI 130.5-88-117@171 cm | R 16 | $1,100 w/b Imagine this scene: a half-dozen guys sitting around the table, arguing about who is the best skier among them. Then another guy walks into the room, and everybody shuts up — the undisputed top dog has arrived. That’s the way it was with the Crimson Ti, the ski that testers rated comfortably above the others in its category. Easy yet powerful, energetic yet forgiving, a master of all turns. All arguments stop here.
SEVENTH HEAVEN 79 118.5-79-104.5@164 cm | R 16.5 | $850 w/b A great recipe comes together when no single flavour overwhelms the overall result — all the ingredients meld into a single, well-blended and sumptuous taste. Such is the sweetness of the Seventh Heaven, a well-measured interplay of all-mountain performance characteristics. Lightness underfoot makes it easy to turn, but, wrote one tester, “Don’t let that fool you. Give it some gas, and it’s not afraid to go.” Sounds like sweetness with a kick to it. Now that’s tasty.
D2 VF 73 120-73-105@167 cm | R 14 | $850 w/b You’ve seen those deep trenches that master carvers leave behind them in the corduroy, and those are the kind of tracks you want to leave in your wake. Roll the D2 VF 73 up on edge, and trench away. This is a ski that lives to be on edge through long-radius turns. But it can also be a “tough” and “demanding” ski, according to testers; an aggressive pilot is required to get it to fly through its arc. In short: a muscular machine for master carving.
CLOUD 9 121-73-106@158 cm | R 12 | $800 w/b Excitement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Often, old-fashioned virtues like dependability and reliability win the day. The Cloud 9 won’t knock your socks off, but especially when cruising the groomers, you can depend on it to do what you want, when you want. “Will suit a weekend/recreational skier to a tee,” commented one tester. That might not stir up a lot of excitement, but it might be exactly the kind of tool intermediates aspiring to become advanced skiers need.
D2 VF 75 125.5-75-112.5 @175 cm | R 14 | $1,000 w/b Here’s a quick smorgasbord of tester comments: “robust beast,” “heavy-duty power tool,” “a tiger ready to attack,” “beefy.” A persuasive picture should be taking shape. This is one powerful ski, eager to charge through big turns at full speed. Once the speedometer breaches 30 mph, it’s like a plane reaching cruising altitude — the ride becomes smooth and stable. But if you don’t want to commit yourself to such high-speed thrills, you’ve booked yourself on the wrong flight.
SEVENTH HEAVEN 76 117-76-102.5@164 cm | R 16 | $550 w/b Finding a ski’s sweet spot can be like an epiphany. Life moves onward with a humdrum ordinariness, and then, suddenly, that sweet spot is found, and the world turns aglow with a pleasurable delight. Testers seemed to find the Seventh Heaven 76’s sweet spot a bit elusive, but as they experimented with their stances on the ski, they began to appreciate its assets. One tester “found it best when I surfed,” or shifted her weight back a bit. Her private moment of epiphany.
BLACKEYE TI 125.5-82-110.5@174 cm | R 16 | $1,000 w/b A ski test can sometimes be like a Rorschach test — what looks like a butterfly to one guy can look like a buffalo to another. One tester described the Blackeye as “suiting a skier who likes lightness,” while another tester recommended it for “heavy skiers with power and aggression.” Say what? That made the Blackeye’s test results a bit befuddling, with opinions all over the place. With a ski like that, a simple rule applies: Try before you buy.
CENTURY 128.5-100-120.5@166 cm | R 18 | $550 Is that music that you hear in the night, or just the sound of fresh snow piling up on your bedroom windowsill? The Century is a ski you want to have on mornings when it’s time to go dancing in new-fallen snow. “Just like waltzing,” wrote one tester. The fluid waltz might turn to a jitterbug when you hit the harder stuff, so if the snow isn’t soft and fluffy, you should be looking for a different dance partner.
ACCESS 129.5-100-121.5@181 cm | R 20 | $550 When a ski gets this wide, it’s supposed to be a one-trick pony, right? Throw a little rocker into the camber, and surely it’s good for powder and soft snow only. Right? In the case of the Access, wrong. Testers found in the Access a surprisingly versatile ski. “Responds to everything you ask for,” gushed one tester, who rated the ski tops in the category. Feather-light and with a soft flex, it still provides a stable ride on firm, groomed terrain.
4 | SkiPress Ski Test’ 11
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