Short-term Gear Review | Atomic Maverick 115 Cti

Testers and test conditions

The tester is 195 cm tall and weighs around 100 kg. He favours powerful changes of direction in narrow steeps and long turns with speed in soft snow. His skiing position is rather centralised, with closed feet, but occasionally tends to backseat slightly in order to be able to react to changing snow. His main focus is on off-piste and freeride descents, which he prefers to be able to reach with lift assistance. He often starts his ski tours directly from the lift in search of beautiful descents or when there is nothing more to be found in the resort. He prefers skis with a long sidecut that are at least body length and can be mounted in the centre. Skis with around 110 mm underfoot, moderate rocker and a balanced taper on flat tips have proven their worth here. For the really deep days in the forest, much wider flotation aids are used.

The Atomic Maverick 115 Cti was tested for a few days in January, fortunately directly after a snowfall. The test conditions ranged from set powder to sticky drift snow and melt or wind crust to slush parties in the warm open forest and blown-out northcouloir snow.

The ski was delivered in 193 cm, which is still an acceptable length for the tester. It was skied with an Atomic Shift binding, which was combined with a Dalbello Cabrio Free. The ski has a long powder rocker. The square tips are angled on the base side. In the centre, the ski has a traditional bracing and a slightly rockered squaretail at the end.

The design is pleasing, the graphics show the gloomy atmosphere in the mountains when a new dump comes up.

You only notice the large ski well below cruising speed. In general, it accelerates rather sluggishly at first, even at walking pace the turn initiation is still not very agile. I had the impression that it brakes mainly in slower flat sections, for example in traverses, but this may also depend on my weight. I'm probably already pushing the ski more statically. This is probably due to a slightly softer area underneath the binding, which leads to a more good-natured skiing behaviour for lighter skiers. If you pick up a bit of speed, a long-lasting comfort zone quickly sets in. Beyond the personal feeling of safety, you are then very well supported by a performance zone for courageous manoeuvres.

The ski never seemed too long, it's almost a shame that so much of the great wood was put into the pronounced rocker. Otherwise, very classic turns over the shovel on the hardpack might have been possible. The tips are a matter of taste, but very functional.

Conclusion

So far, the ski has been a great ski, which unobtrusively and reliably provides its big mountain quality without much effort on the part of the skier, especially on drops. There is still a lack of experience with typical spring conditions such as frozen powder residues, which have to be mastered at high speed in a thawed state, as well as long descents through rutted, bumpy variants. However, the qualities of the Atomic Maverick 115 CTI are promising so far.

Advantages & disadvantages

+Pop

+Buoyancy

+Very stable on track with speed

+Light

-somewhat sluggish at low speed

Information on

RRP €859.99

• Lengths: 177, 185, 193

• Waist: 139.5|115|128.5, 140.5|115|129.5, 141.5|115|130.5

• Radius: 17m, 18m, 19m

• Directional shape

• High-gloss topsheet

• Powder rocker 30/50/20

• Side edge angle: 87°

• Base edge angle: 1.3°

Here is the link to the Atomic website with further information. Here you can buy Atomic skis from our partner shop SportConrad.

The ski was provided to PowderGuide by the manufacturer free of charge for testing. You can find out how we test it in our test statement.