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gear reviews

Gear Review | Black Diamond Boundary Pro 107

A ski for demanding lines and powder days

by Johannes Wolf 03/15/2019
This year's winter left a lot to be desired at the beginning, but shortly afterwards Ullr took pity on us and gifted us with snowfall beyond good and evil from the end of December. The perfect time to test a big mountain freeride ski that is even suitable for ski touring in larger amounts of fresh snow. The Boundary Pro 107 by Black Diamond is said to be perfect for precisely this type of use.

The revised ski is similar to the original Boundary 107, but its construction has been reworked. The ski now has a continuous core for additional torsional rigidity, which should enable a powerful and aggressive skiing style even in hard snow. In addition to the Boundary Pro 107, there is also a narrower version with 100mm in the centre, as well as a version with 115mm centre width.

Testers and test conditions

I have been regularly testing skis for PowderGuide for a few years now, including some touring skis as well as freeride skis. As ski tests are always subjective, here are a few details about the tester. I'm about 178 cm tall and weigh just over 70 kilograms; I tested the ski in length 184 cm. I also have between five and ten kilograms of equipment in my backpack. The binding is a Fritschi Vipec. Whereas a few years ago I favoured more playful skis and skied with a heavier freeride set-up, I now prefer harder skis and like to step on the gas.

I was able to test the ski on around 13 days in our Alps this season (2018/2019). The Boundary was tested in powder, hard snow, wet snow and, of course, on the piste.

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First impression

The design of the Boundary Pro 107 is simple compared to some other skis, but I personally really like it. What immediately catches the eye is the sidecut of the ski. With its large rocker at the tip and a tip width of 138mm and a centre width of 107mm with a length of 184cm, it should definitely float well in powder. The ski has a tip-and-tail rocker and a special sidewall construction. The latter, together with the continuous poplar wood core, should ensure that the ski is easy to ride even in hard snow and does not start to flutter. In combination with the Vipec, however, you immediately realise that this equipment is not exactly an ultra-lightweight toy.

Practical test

As the ski is supposed to be very stable in terms of speed and easy to ride even in hard conditions, I first tested the ski on the piste. There it is still easy to ski even in hard and icy conditions. Of course, you shouldn't forget that the ski is a freeride ski and not a carving ski. Nevertheless, despite the wide shovel and the width, it didn't start to flutter even at higher speeds, so in my opinion the word tempostable applies to a ski of this width. The narrower version should certainly be a little easier to ski on the piste.

As I've been wanting to buy a slightly wider ski for a while now, which would also allow me to go on a longer ski tour, I've also been on a few tours with this ski. There are certainly lighter skis on the market for this area of use, but I found the touring performance to be okay. On the ascent, the ski is still easy to edge due to its stiffness. For longer tours beyond 1000 metres in altitude, however, I would probably look for somewhat lighter equipment. However, if you are looking for a ski in this width for touring and which is also supposed to be quite stable at speed, you will still have to accept a few grams more.

However, the ski shows its real strength on the descent. The ski masters fast turns, high speeds and even in harder snow without any problems. It also floats well in powder and ensures that the skier gets a big grin, even if the ski could almost have been a tad wider in this year's snow conditions. The ski is very easy to turn and manoeuvre, the radius is 20 metres with a length of 184cm. However, fast and long turns are likely to be its favourite playground. However, those who prefer a more leisurely ride can rest assured, as the relatively small radius for such a ski and the tip and tail rocker mean that the ski can also be ridden comfortably. In terms of durability, the ski has proven itself so far. So far it has only had minor scratches in the base despite a couple stone contacts. So it seems that the base depth has not been skimped on here.

Conclusion

The Black Diamond Boundary Pro 107 can definitely call itself a big mountain ski. It impressed me in almost all areas and performs really well compared to other skis. For me, the ski definitely has the potential to become a freeride ski with touring capability in my ski collection. I would have liked to have skied the ski for a few more days, but unfortunately the season ended early for me due to an accident. The narrower version is certainly more suitable for longer and longer tours. However, there could be a problem for taller people, as the ski is only available in three sizes and the longest version is only 184cm.

Details:

Advantages and disadvantages:

+ stable at high speeds
+ easy to manoeuvre
+ good all-round ski

- Weight
- longest version 184cm
 

Lengths:
168cm, 176cm, 184cm
 

Dimensions:

[168 cm] 136-107-121  -  Weight: 3.7 kg    Radius: 18m

[176 cm] 137-107-123  -  Weight: 4.0 kg    Radius: 19m

[184 cm] 138-107-123  -  Weight: 4.1 kg    Radius: 20m            

Here is the link to the Black Diamond website with further information. The ski is also available from our partner shop Bergzeit.de.

This product was provided to PowderGuide free of charge by the manufacturer for testing. How we test it can be found in our test statement.

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