Top ski industry publications have deemed the following women’s skis the best of the best for Winter 2021-22. Womensgearguide.com cannot personally attest to having tested this skis yet – fingers crossed we can get on some of the bad gals when the snow starts flying – but we can provide you with some trusted resources in your decision making process. The two ski shops highlighted below, Powder7 (Golden, CO) and SkiEssentials (Stowe, VT) are great examples of skier-led businesses who really know their stuff.
Icelantic Maiden 111 Video Review
[Icelantic Maiden 101 Review at 1:03] Transcript – My first is going to be the Icelantic Maiden 101. In my mind it’s the most versatile of the Maiden series. It’s also going to come in a 111 and 91 under foot. The 101 for me just handles all mountain conditions really well. Still get nice floatation in powder. Flyweight core is going to keep it nice and light as well with the rocker in the tip and tail. It’s just a really great, fun all-mountain ski.
Line Pandora 110 Video Review
Transcript – Right here we’ve got a Line Pandora 110. It’s an awesome ski, it’s in Line’s women’s ski collection. It’s the widest ski in the Pandora line. It’s actually different than the other Pandora skis in the sense that it has a different shape and a different construction, too. Super, super fun powder ski, and a lot different things you can do with it in terms of a ski that’s 110 underfoot. Let’s take a look at construction. The use Line’s Partly Cloudy core, which is a blend of maple and paulownia. The ski is impressively lightweight. We see similar construction on the men’s Vision skis. In addition to that wood core, they use what Line calls Triple Hybrid construction. It’s really pretty interesting. They use a blend of fiber glass, carbon and aramid. Kind of right above the core of the ski. In fact, when you look closely you can see crosshatching grid of fibers that give the ski more torsional stiffness more energy, kind of more pop and spring. It’s certainly not a stiff flex pattern. It’s on the softer side, but it has a lot of nice energy and bounce to it. Which is a lot of fun. Looking at shape. It’s a lot of what you’d expect with a 110 ski. We do get some camber underfoot. There’s a lot of tip and tail rocker in the ski. Not a tremendous amount of early taper, but you get a javelin tip shape which is really nice.
Application for the Pandora 110. We’re really talking soft snow. It could be a dedicated powder ski for a lot of skiers. East coast, West Coast/ 100 underfoot is a nice width and crosses over from our smaller East Coast mountains to bigger West Coast terrain. I think particularly here on the East a big benefit for this ski is that it’s lightweight. Combine that lightweight with the amount of tip rocker or tail rocker that it has. It’s pretty agile, pretty easy to maneuver through tight trees. Take it out West and it’s got enough surface area through the whole ski that you can ski it fast and aggressively through open terrain and have a blast on them.
Like I said these are lightweight. An intention of these skis, and something Line kept in mind in designing them. these skis. There aren’t many options for a twin tip shape like this for people that want to use it an Alpine touring application…
Black Crows Atris Birdie Video Review
Transcript – We got a Black Crows Atris Birdie for you today. this is the same build and shape as the men’d ski. it’s just available in shorter lengths and in different graphics, so if you’re looking for the shorter size in the Birdie ski, the Atris is the way to go. In terms of construction, we got a full popular wood core here. Pretty simple, but like we see with a lot of Black Crow skis, it’s impressive what they can do with just a popular wood core, with what they do with the shape and the profile. So add a 108 mm under foot. this ski generates a 20 meter turn radius. It’s a bit longer. it still has some moderate taper shape to it. but that extended side cut does give it a little bit longer of a turn shape and allows for better edge contact from tip to tail and that results in overall smoother ride. so gain, what they do with he poplar wood car it does matter how they shape and profile it. with that extra material it is a pretty big ski. it does give that ski more strength and power because there is more material to it.
This is the 178 and it’s just a really nice well-rounded ski. You can see where that taper comes to here underfoot. The shovel has a nice even progressive flex throughout. They do something with sidewall as well. Full sidewall, underfoot, through the binding area and it does taper to a half sidewall construction. That’s going to increase the maneuverability and the quickness of the skis towards the ends while keeping the edge grip nice under foot. like you’d want to see with a bunch of fresh snow, the ski does have a good rocker profile to it as well, a nice extended rocker from the shovel here starting a little bit below the taper line, that gives you a nice smooth pop into the turn and jumps you up out of the snow. In the tail, same thing, just a little bit below below the taper. Kind of a moderate splay tp the twin tip. Really a well-rounded, wider body all mountain freeride ski from Black Crow. Definitely want to be in the advanced category here for this ski, but if you’re an intermediate looking for a wider ski for resort powder this would also be a great ski.
Völkl Blaze 106 W Video Review
Transcript – In front of me I have Volkl Blaze 106 women’s version. Same as the men’s just a different top sheet and sizes available. They came out with this excellent lightweight, all mountain freeride tour ski last year, and they’ve basically given it a little bit of a cosmetic difference this year. Construction wise, they use their hybrid multi-layered wood core. They use super light wood, and they also use a synthetic wood down the center, which you can actually see in the construction of the ski. It’s a little bit lighter. All it does is reduce the weight even more and holding that torsional stiffness you’ll need to have smoother ride.
Shape of the ski, they have a nice long tip rocker. Pretty long for this kind of category, and nice tail rocker. Combined with their 3D radius, basically what that’s going is help you do is get the ski on edge easily and help you maneuver easily through tricky situations. But you’re also going to be able flex he ski on edge and hold it. If you like to make larger turns. Their 3d radius technology is pretty awesome, it lets you make slalom turns, to GS turns, to Super G turns. Depending on how you flex the ski and how you power the ski. So if you like to be able to go just about anywhere on the mountain.
With a 106 waist you’re going to be able to hit some powder, get some flotation. But also with hat radius you’re going to be able to pop in the trees and maneuver easy and be able to pop in out and of moguls. Id’ gear this to a little bit more advanced lady, a high intermediate. with the 106 under waist it’s definitely geared towards someone who knows what they’re doing. Someone who wants a little more floatation in powder. It can also be used as a touring ski. Since it’s so light in its construction, without any metal in there. You’re going to be able to take it uphill without getting too fatigued. But you’re also going to be able to get that flotation for going downhill. They do have a narrower version for someone who is purely looking for resort uphill, but this ski is going to be great for someone who kinda likes to do it all.
Buy on backcountry.com — $599.95
K2 Mindbender 106C Alliance Video Review
Transcript – In front of me I have k2s Mindbender 106c Alliance, which is in their women’s Mindbender lineup. It’s the second to widest of their lineup and it’s in the middle of their carbon series. The 106 c stands for 106 underwaist and c is for carbon construction. In the construction you can see that they have a weave, I’m not sure if you can see it on the camera, but it is really cool and you can see in on the top sheet. They have a tighter weave that go through the tips and less of a weave in the tail. The reason for that is to allow better turn initiation on the tips, and grip in the front of the ski and allows you to release those tails when you need. With a 106 you’re going to be taking this ski into variable conditions, powder, crud, bumps, trees, and that weave is really going to help you get into the turn and release the turn and have some fun. They have a really fun top sheet, just like all their Mindbender skis. They try to be different from all the other brands out there.
For 106 underfoot you’re looking for a more advanced skier on this ski. It’s a power ski, it’s an all-mountain ski, it’s a backcountry. It’s not too heavy, you could put a touring binding on it and could go uphill and have some fun on it. It is really meant to be an all-mountain category. That lady that wants to hit the back bowls of vail with a couple inches, pop into the trees, wherever you want to go the 106 is going to take you there. The other version they have is their 90 c which is more of a frontside carving ski, but it still plays with the trees and bumps and snappy feel, where this one just gives you a little more width and a little more float when you hit the powder days. Geared towards an advanced skier.
More Videos to Watch
Nordica Santa Ana 104 Video Review
Salomon QST Stella 106 Video Review
Buy on backcountry.com — $699.95
