15 | SkiPress Ski Test’ 11 Powered by the Quebec Subaru Dealer’s Association

KENDO127-88-109@177cm | R 21.9 | $800Close your eyes in the middle of a turn, and you might swear you were on a racecourse, Open your eyes, and look — you’re arcing fast, phat turns out on the mountain, maybe in a foot of fl uff. That’s the Kendo’s magic trick — giving all-mountain skiing a racy feel. Not every skier can pull that off; as one tester wrote, “These skis require a skilled pilot.” But bring talent and toughness to the plate, and the Kendo can produce an eye-opening experience.

UNLIMITED AC 20118-74-103@170 cm | R 16.1 | $900 w/bYou know how you feel after an extra cup of coffee in the morning. You might get a little twitchy, but you’ve got the energy to handle anything. The Unlimited AC 20 is like that, a relatively light ski that enthusiastically leaps from one turn to another with three-cups-of-coffee energy. One tester compared it to “a gazelle — quick, fast and jumpy.” If you have the energy to match, the ride can be swift and athletic. Otherwise, kick the caffeine habit.

UNLIMITED AC 10117-72-103@170 cm | R 15.4 | $700 w/bTwo testers thought the Unlimited AC 10 was the best ski in the category. They were also the two heaviest testers. Put another way, the AC 10 is a generally likeable ski, but for big boys it can be downright lovable. One of the big guys was so enamoured that he compared it to “a ménage à trois.” Like having two partners at once, it can go long or it can go short, easy or hard, slow or fast.

SENSOR 2115-69-100@168 cm | R 15.2 | $630 w/bVölkl likes to call skiing on the Sensor 2 “comfort carving.” Testers agreed — as long as your comfort zone allows plenty of room for muscle and power. The ski certainly enters a turn with comfortable ease, but once that sidecut is engaged with the snow, watch out. One tester recommended it for skiers “who enjoy G forces.” It’s a carving specialist, but earns high versatility scores for an ability to make clean arcs beyond its prescribed radius.

MANTRA133-96-116@177 cm | R 20.3 | $850Maybe the Mantra should be renamed the Macho. This ski is loaded with testosterone, a ski with attack-mode insistency. Go big, go hard, go fast: the ski’s triple imperatives. Surprise — it can actually carve turns on hard snow with a ferocity rare for a fat ski. But overall, as one tester put it, this is “for the serious freerider.” Seek out the steep and the deep, then charge. Got the message, macho man?

UNLIMITED AC 30124-80-107@177 cm | R 18.4 | $1,100 w/bThink of a team of engineers at the drawing board, etching out, with protractor precision, an arc with an 18.4-metre radius. They take their drawings to the manufacturing boys and the result — voilà! — is the Unlimited AC 30. If all a ski were ever supposed to do is etch perfect, 18.4-metre turns at warp speed, the only ski ever sold would be the Unlimited AC 30. Versatility? Maybe not. But if you’re a big-turn blaster, this one’s engineered for you.

TIGERSHARK 10 FOOT121-73-102@168 cm | R 14.8 | $1,135 w/bThink yin and yang, the opposing characteristics that complete the full circle. The Tigershark 10 fuses the ease of a recreational ski with race-ski power to form an almost ideal, all-mountain master. One tester wrote that it “can suit different types of skiers,” while another likened it to “a Swiss Army knife, with a tool for every terrain and snow condition.” Put another way, the ski does everything well, regardless of who is in the driver’s seat. Yin, meet yang.

ATTIVA FUEGO124-72-93@158 cm | R 14.6 | $1,050 w/bThe Attiva Fuego is like putty in your hands, a ski that you can make of what you want. Put another way, it has no domineering personality; the skier determines what the ski can do and how it can perform. Testers liked it for a variety of reasons: reliability, versatility, stability, soft-snow performance. But not everyone liked it — or criticized it — for the same reasons. That’s why no single personality emerges. Try it, and see what you can make of it.

ATTIVA TIERRA129-78-99@161 cm | R 14.8 | $1,050 w/bThe Attiva Tierra is like a good politician, trying to please all the people all the time. But every politician has a favoured constituency. The Attiva Tierra works well as an all-terrain vehicle for all skier types, but produces its most favourable results under the command of bigger girls. The ski’s test scores are an almost perfect fl atline — equally high-scoring in all criteria. But what really earned testers’ votes: transitions from one type of snow to the other.

KENJA129-86-105@163 cm | R 17.7 | $800Sometimes, fi nding the ski you like can be a real trip. Wrote one tester of skiing on the Kenja: “Hallucinating… wow!” The Kenja is one of those skis that can toss you around if you don’t fi nd the sweet spot. But when you do, you can charge right into a fantasy world of skiing. “Charge” is the name of the game; the ski demands an assertive pilot to energize it. From then on… what a trip.

ATTIVA SOL126-75-96@158 cm | R 14.7 | $800 w/bYou can almost hear the Attiva Sol whispering repeatedly in your ear, “Me too! Me too!” Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, however you want to ski, the Attiva Sol wants to come along for the ride. Varying terrain, snow conditions and skiing styles? No problem. It’s an ideal ski for crossing the bridge from intermediate to more advanced skiing — responsive to a gentler, intermediate’s touch, but powerful enough to be driven hard, too.

ATTIVA ESTRELLA 124-73-94@158 cm | R 14.8 | $700 w/bSkiing the Estrella is like dancing with a star — every movement is elegant, decisive and effortless, eliciting smiley-face joy and confi dence. The ski simply does everything with an unerring grace; as one tester put it, “Turn on the music and let it glide.” Classic Völkl edge grip combines with super turning ease to lay the foundations for entry into the world of technical carving. But it also has the versatility to be a star in the Land of 1,000 Dances.

ATTIVA LUNA124-73-94@158 cm | R 14.8 | $630 w/bAttiva Luna to Mission Control: Cruising altitude has been reached. Gliding through the apogee of the turn with ease, and all systems are go. Here is a ski on an absolute mission to achieve a smooth and comfortable ride. Or as one tester put it, it’s a ski for “skiers who like… feeling in control right from the beginning of the turn.” Stick to an easygoing fl ight plan, and the ski inspires confi dence. Note to cruisers: mission accomplished.

AURA130-94-113@170 cm | R 21.1 | $850Love sometimes happens at fi rst sight. One tester called the Aura’s looks “magnifi cent,” and thus began a love affair. To be sure, there is some tough love here, and imprecision will be punished. This is a ski that yearns to be pushed hard and fast, with no time to be wasted on diddling around with tight, little turns. Adopt an aggro mindset to crank out big turns at big speeds on big terrain, and this can be a long-lasting romance.

You know how you feel after an extra cup of coffee in the morning. You might get a little twitchy, but you’ve got the

Think yin and yang, the opposing characteristics that complete the full circle. The Tigershark 10 fuses the ease of a