First impression
After one season of sales, the Maverick 115 CTI is almost a classic with its design: plain white on tip and tail and simply dark in between with trees, mountain and snow. The base, of course, is more eye-catching with its bright orange colour and is predestined to be placed photos from side! The Atomic Shift² 13 MN is mounted, which was presented in a completely revised version last season and should also be mentioned again in this test.
Like the Atomic Backland 109 with Shift² 13 MN recently presented as gear review, the ski is equipped with the HRZN 3D Shape, which means that the tip is slightly curved at the sides and should provide more stability and smoothness, as well as more float. The so-called dynamic power wood core is designed to provide stability - at high speeds or when landing hard. The addition CTI in the name of the Maverick means nothing more than the use of carbon and titanal. The sidewalls are now rounded in the Dura Cap construction for better edge grip and more durability.
In combination with the Shift binding, the setup is not too light, but not too heavy for its downhill performance. According to the manufacturer, a 193 cm ski should weigh 2,150 g and a binding 920 g. Together with the binding, one 185 cm long ski from the test setup weighs 3,020 g for me - the other one 2,960 g.
Tester and test conditions
I'm 180 cm tall and weigh just under 78 kg and have used the skis for both ski touring and freeriding, whereby I place more attention on the descent than the ascent for the former - so from that point of view, the test setup and I are a good match. Almost without exception, a Tecnica Cochise was used as the ski boot.
In the meantime, the ski has been tested in a wide variety of snow conditions and areas. It started in wind affected powder in the Lötschental, continued with very variable conditions on our winter camping trip in the Southern Alps, visited a few - sometimes icy - couloirs in the Dolomites and culminated in quite a few ski tours, during which I dragged the setup on longer ascents to be prepared for variable downhill conditions.