Skis That Know No Bounds

Front side, back side, no matter: These souped-up and shapely boards go anywhere
By Iseult Devlin

It's not the lift lines so much as the herded, shrink-wrapped-and-bar-coded feel of the modern ski resort that sends you screaming for the trees, or the back bowls, or anywhere beyond the blue lines on the trail map. And now you don't have to be an expert skier to explore expert terrain, whether it be on- or off-piste. A new genre of ski, the mid-fat, will guide you there.

Engineers essentially took the shaped skis that we so adore and fattened them up. In doing so, they traded in a touch of hard-pack performance but hit upon perhaps the ideal application of the deep sidecut. A wider waist, the hallmark of the mid-fat, provides a stable platform when you stray from familiar territory: That extra girth allows you to blast through wind-packed crust with grace, while a wide tip keeps you afloat in powder. Yet the mid-fat is torsionally stiff enough for you to lay that sidecut down and carve. This design, as manufacturers like to say, extends the range of the ski. Translation: It's versatile.

When pairing a mid-fat to your own adventurous aspirations, look for a wider tip if you're aiming strictly for powder days, a narrower waist if you'll spend much of your time cutting corduroy. As for turning radius, the radius of the arc a given ski shape makes when you carve, just remember that a smaller number means a deeper sidecut, thus a tighter turn (sidecuts listed correspond to manufacturers' longest skis). Because mid-fats pack in a lot of surface area, you'll want them up to 15 centimeters shorter than your usual skis. Rest assured, though, that any of these skis will get you well off the beaten track — and back again.

Atomic Beta Cruise 9.22
Tip: 108 mm. Waist: 72 mm. Tail: 100 mm. Turning radius: 22 meters.
Like a good coach, the beta cruise ($749) gets the most out of athletes at all levels of the game, demanding results from the best while providing solid support for up-and-comers. Atomic melds a deep sidecut with a notably rigid construction born of its Beta Technology — two tubes run the ski's length, like two narrow cores, channeling your energy directly to each edge. The resulting performance means expert skiers will be able to snap quick and biting turns on the steeps, while intermediates will be able to initiate tight arcs on less vertiginous terrain.

Dynastar 4x4
Tip: 103 mm. Waist: 67 mm. Tail: 88 mm. Turning radius: 24 meters.
The 4x4's silhouette is slimmer than most featured on these pages, yet its narrowish waist means it maintains the proportions necessary to carve like its super-sidecut cousins. It also means the 4x4 ($695) rolls onto that carving edge with the greatest of ease, not unlike a sport-utility vehicle. The Dynastar boosts you above the traffic with integrated lifts called Power Stacks, which raise your bindings, giving you more leverage to control your turns. A narrow tail frees the 4x4 from one nagging criticism of shaped skis: Flared tails tend to snag on the bumps.

Head Cyber Cross
Tip: 102 mm. Waist: 67 mm. Tail: 92 mm. Turning radius: 24 meters.
Head's freshly minted cyber cross ($475) is so new that we've yet to ski it, but given certain design elements, we can at least speculate on its performance. Like the Dynastar, the Cyber Cross has a narrower waist, intended to strike a balance of capabilities for both powder and groomed snow. An all-wood core with no metal layers would indicate a very light and soft ski, but Head builds horizontal ribs into the tip and tail for torsional rigidity. Definitely worth a demo for intermediates.

K2 Xplorer
Tip: 107 mm. Waist: 74.5 mm. Tail: 98 mm. Turning radius: 27.5 meters.
K2 looked at the template of its must-have franchise model, the Four, and fattened it to produce the Xplorer ($599). The new ski is just supple enough to encourage skiers who are less accustomed to turning in choppy snow. Still, many an annual-pass holder will opt for the Xplorer in the powder and also get by with it on firmer terrain, thanks to a carbon-fiber-wrapped wood core that keeps the waist from wiggling under pressure and keeps the tails firmly planted.

Olin Selkirk
Tip: 108 mm. Waist: 75 mm. Tail: 98 mm. Turning radius: 26 meters.
Olin, which is owned by k2, offers a kinder, gentler version of the Xplorer with its Selkirk ($630), which has nearly identical dimensions. By varying the sidewall angle and layering extra fiberglass at the ski's edges, a feature dubbed the Perimeter Edge Control System, Olin makes it easier to start turning and provides a smooth exit. Mellow skiers will also appreciate the Selkirk's large sweet spot, defined as the range in which you can position yourself over the ski and still command it. In short, you don't have to constantly drive the tips to ski the Olin.

Rossignol Cut 11.5
Tip: 115 mm. Waist: 85 mm. Tail: 104 mm. Turning radius: 23 meters.
With its super-wide tip and ample waist, the cut 11.5 assumes a certain level of unkempt conditions that you're much more apt to find in the backcountry. Rossignol arrives at the mid-fat by way of fat powder boards, sculpted to turn easier. Yet within that typically noodly silhouette lies a formidably rigid construction. Specifically, two layers of torsionally reinforcing aluminum alloy (called Zicral) sandwiching the core ensure that you won't lose an edge if you happen upon a wind-scoured steep. Consider the Cut 11.5 a backcountry insurance policy.

Salomon X-Mountain
Tip: 100 mm. Waist: 75 mm. Tail: 89 mm. Turning radius: 34.5 meters.
Duck into the trees or hop into an elevator shaft of moguls and you won't so much notice the Salomon X-Mountain ($655) under your feet as you will appreciate the predictable platform. Part of this dreamy quality stems from Salomon's Prolinks, aluminum bands mounted fore and aft of the bindings that press the tip and tail flat. Aside from absorbing shock, the increased contact means you can ski an even shorter, more maneuverable ski without trading in speedy performance. A relatively conservative sidecut welcomes shaped-ski critics.

Volant PowerKarve
Tip: 106 mm. Waist: 74 mm. Tail: 97 mm. Turning radius: 25 meters.
The steamroller of the bunch, the powerkarve ($555) simply stomps through crusty, cruddy, heavy snow, paving the way for those who are able to ski fast through such conditions. Its stainless steel cap provides formidable torsional rigidity, giving you the ability to really lock in a turn even on hard snow, yet its wide tip and relatively soft flex make it plenty maneuverable for intermediate skiers. Still, as one of the heavier skis in the batch, stronger or more skilled skiers will get the most out of its brawny capabilities.

V÷lkl Snow Ranger Lite
Tip: 98 mm. Waist: 72 mm. Tail: 87 mm. Sidecut radius: 34.5 meters.
A soft flex and dimensions that are tuned more to the fairway than the rough make V÷lkl's Snow Ranger Lite ($475) a bridge to a bolder world for those who've logged their precious few alpine hours on manicured slopes. Ditto lighter skiers. The waist offers ample width to instill confidence, and the combination wood-and-foam core is very forgiving, allowing skiers to flatten an edge on groomed turns without a world of effort.

Iseult Devlin has been skiing on- and off-piste for 25 years.

Photographs by Craig Cutler; Gary Hush; Clay Ellis