After three weeks of ski testing, the Freeskier staff rounded up the best of the best for 2012/13, and selected Editor’s Picks. Of those Editor’s Picks, these are the best carvers, your go-to skis for slicing and dicing all over the hill.
1. Nordica Belle to Belle
Carving: 5/5
“Part of an all-new women’s lineup from Nordica is the Belle to Belle, an ambitious, turny and fun ski for the frontside.” Click for full review and scores.
2. Kästle FX 104
Carving: 4.91/5
“Kästle’s FX series was developed with Chris Davenport, so it’s apt that one tester said the FX 104 is ‘not for wussies!'” Click for full review and scores.
3. Völkl Mantra
Carving: 4.9/5
“When one tester commented, ‘Skis like this are becoming a lost art,’ we knew Völkl was doing something right.” Click for full review and scores.
4. Blizzard Bonafide
Carving: 4.86/5
“The Bonafide by Blizzard is a wood-core, sandwich-constructed, hard-charging, rip-roaring stallion of an all-mountain ski.” Click for full review and scores.
T-5. Armada Pipe Cleaner
Carving: 4.8/5
“The Pipe Cleaner is the benchmark that other pipe skis have been measured against for years, strapped on pros from Tanner Hall to Torin Yater-Wallace.” Click for full review and scores.
T-5. Nordica Ace of Spades Comp
Carving: 4.8/5
“This year Nordica created the Ace of Spades Competition, a slightly more VIP and aggressive version of its popular Ace of Spades.” Click for full review and scores.
7. Blizzard Cochise
Carving: 4.77/5
“Blizzard’s skis, with the Cochise at the forefront, excel in two related areas: carving and stability.” Click for full review and scores.
8. Salomon Rockette 92
Carving: 4.75/5
“Almost a carbon copy of the guys’ Rocker292, Salomon’s Rockette had the fairer sex’s testers pining over it.” Click for full review and scores.
9. Scott Crusade
Carving: 4.71/5
“Endorsed by one tester who said, ‘The Spanish conquistadors would have crusaded this ski to the end of the earth,’ the Crusade was built to rail turns on the frontside all damn day.” Click for full review and scores.
T-10: Rossignol Scimitar
Carving: 4.67/5
“Featuring what the company calls Spin Turn Rocker, the Scimitar incorporates zero camber underfoot with a rockered tip and tail, making it ‘very maneuverable’ and ‘able to eat up slush and crud.'” Click for full review and scores.
T-10: Völkl Aura
Carving: 4.67/5
“The smaller and decidedly more womanly version of the Mantra, the Völkl Aura rips just as hard as its big brother.” Click for full review and scores.
