Slide Down the Slopes on the 10 Best Skis

The Mantra M 5 is one of the best free-ride skis out there. Volkl has always been a reputable brand, and this latest iteration of their Mantra line is a prime example of why.

This is an all-mountain ski, with a pretty damp feel. It’s a bit stiffer underfoot than other all-mountain skis, making it very stable at speed.

The turn radius on this ski is really great at 21.4 meters. This improved radius is due to the smaller waist width of 96 millimeters, compared to the 100 millimeters of previous iterations.

This version has a full camber underfoot, giving you plenty of support on powdery snow, and the rockered tips help the ski deal with freestyle skiing better than most all-mountain skis.

The Line Sick Day 88 is another all-mountain ski with a damp feel. It’s a bit less of an investment than the Mantra M5, but that doesn’t make it a less fun ski.

The 88-millimeter waist and the five-point sidecut on this ski give it an incredible turn radius of 17 meters and make it great for carving packed snow. It’s a fairly snappy ski, which allows turning with minimal effort, but this snappy feel does slightly reduce its stability at speed.

Its full camber and rockered tip allow you to ski in most powder situations as well.

This park ski is versatile enough to handle, not only freestyle skiing, but also some fresh powder and bumps. Because of its versatility, this ski deserves to be in the list of some of the best skis available.

The Armada ARW is able to withstand landings, rails, and crashes due to its stiffness, especially in the tail. It also has a rockered tip and tail to assist with getting into and out of jumps and bumps. The give of the tip with the stiffness of the tail makes moguls much more enjoyable as well.

The 86-millimeter waist means this ski has a great turn radius and can carve into packed snow quite well.

The FR in this model name stands for freeride, a more playful feel to a ski and best suited to softer snow. This is a ski you’d want to take off the piste.

The Fisher 102 is an All-Mountain ski that does particularly well on powder, due to its wide 102-millimeter waist. This is a new iteration of the 98 Ti, which was a powerful All-Mountain ski that tended to be difficult to control for most users. By adding four millimeters and removing some of the metal, Fisher made this ski much lighter and easier to control.

The flexible rockered tip and stiff rockered tail allow this relatively wide ski to maintain an 18-meter turn radius and gives it better control on packed snow than other comparably wide skis.

The Cassiar is an almost-perfect All-Mountain ski. DPS has done away with the sidecut, making the tail virtually flat. This unusual shape makes turning the Cassiar much easier.

The tip is heavily rockered and fairly flexible, making turn initiation a breeze and allowing it to float pretty well in powder. It performs well both on moguls and at speed. Its 94-inch waist gives it the versatility to perform equally well on groomed snow as on powder.

If you decide you only need one pair of skis, this is very likely the ski for you.

These are high-performance carving skis and are meant for experienced, techiniquely-sound, athletic skiers. If you can handle them, they are some of the best skis available.

The S/Max Blast is a much stiffer ski, which is one of the aspects that make carving so easy for this ski. Likewise, the Edge Amplifier, a layer of top sheet material that creates a rail over the edge of the ski, allows it to turn easily and quickly, with only a 13-meter turn radius on some of the shorter lengths.

This is not a ski you’d want if you’re only planning to get one pair. Its 72-millimeter waist makes it as unsuitable for powder as it is suitable for packed snow.

The K2 Wayback 106 is one of the best skis for the backcountry. The Wayback has a 106-millimeter waist and fully rockered tip, making it float on fresh powder perfectly. However, while most wide-waisted powder skis are terrible for carving, this ski is able to carve fairly well, despite a pretty wide turn radius of 22 meters.

These skis are firmer than typical backcountry skis thanks to a spine of Titanal, but they’re still quite light because of the light wood core. The stiffness of the tail makes it easy to dig in on switchbacks despite the lightness of the ski.

The Kore 99 has a honeycomb core material and a top sheet of polyester fleece, making it more lightweight than many other park skis.

But the reduction in weight does not correspond to a reduction in capability. This hard-wearing ski is great on rougher terrains, jumps, and tricks, thanks to the graphene infused in the tip and the tail.

This ski is fairly rigid, providing more control in and out of jumps as well as a great turn radius of 15 meters, while the wider 99-millimeter waist allows it to function in powder as well.

This wide-waisted powder ski is made for freeriding. With its 106-millimeter waist, it can handle any powder you come across, while maintaining the versatility you need in the backcountry.

The carbon-alloy in its construction reduces the vibrations underfoot and gives this ski a more stable feel. At the same time, the rockered tip flexible enough to give this ski a respectably 18-meter turn radius. A stiffer, flat tail gives you more control coming out of turns.

The Air Tip 2.0 infused into this ski decreases its weight without decreasing its stability at speed.

The Nordica NRGY 90 is another great all-purpose ski, especially for advanced skiers. Its sturdy construction gives it a solid, predictable feel, and this ski performs equally well in powder and on groomers.

The 100-millimeter waist lets this ski float above powder almost as well as a dedicated powder ski. At the same time, because of the rigid edges of the NRGY, this ski is better at carving than most skis of its width.

This same rigidity allows the ski to maintain its stability at speed as well as handle the bumps you’d expect to find in freeriding. This is another great option if you’re looking to purchase only one set of skis.