For me I try to test as many new skis every year as I can, I seem to always find something new that I like.
I have gone from the Rossignol Soul 7 four years ago, to the Rossignol Sky 7 after that, then last year it was the Volkl 90eight, all of which I still rate as the best skis on the market.
Recently I got to test one of the new Kore skis from Head, I was quite impressed, this new ski will put Head back in demand for those wanting a good all round performer, something Head have been missing for a few years now.
I have been checking out some of the latest skis from Nordica such as the NRGy and its replacement the Navigator, they are an excellent choice for both Australia as well as those going overseas.
For the ladies I am hearing good things about the Volkl Flair series, especially the Flair UVO if you want an exceptional ski, it is not cheap though, Rossignol Temptation 84 and Nordica Belle are also quite popular choices.
There has been a lot of discussion about how wide do you go for a ski, this is a good question and everyone has their own opinion, I know as your skill level gets better you can go for a narrower ski even for very deep powder, I recently skied very deep powder overseas on a few skis that were less than 100mm under foot, at no stage did I wish I was on a wider ski.
Generally as you go wider the ski is less likely to hold and edge on icy snow and can be harder to use in the bigger moguls, certainly if you are on skis under 70mm under foot, you will need to be fairly skilled if in deep powder, but back in the days of narrow skis we did it, we had no choice back then.
One thing I was keen to test out in Japan recently was how much tip rocker do you need, I took over 3 sets of skis with varying amounts of tip rocker, no doubt the Volkl 90eight had the least amount of tip rocker compared to the Head Kore 105 and the Rossignol Sky 7, in the deeper light powder I was quite happy on the Volkl 90Eight as well as the other two choices, but when it came to the heavier deep snow the extra tip rocker certainly made it easier to get around.
In the true light powder I would use the Volkl 90eight as I prefer to stay deep under the snow rather than rise above it to turn, however this technique requires a much higher skill level, if you are new to skiing powder I suggest keep with a ski that has a decent amount of tip rocker, like a Rossignol Soul 7 or Sky 7, or one of the new Head Kore skis.
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