Ski

The Mindbender 116 is the widest ski in the new Mindbender series from K2. Thanks to a Paulownia core construction, the ski is relatively light for its width and therefore versatile. We are giving away a Mindbender 116 in 186 cm length with special edition topsheet design!

In addition to the Candide Thovex Pro models, Faction also has a second backcountry/freeski line in its range - the Prodigy series. We extensively tested the widest model, the Prodigy 4.0, last winter. Find out what makes this ski so special and what you can use a freestyle-oriented twin tip with a 112 mm waist width for here in the test.

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 Scott Speedguide is available in 2 versions, one with 80mm and one with 95mm underfoot. The 95mm (actually 96mm) version was tested in 178cm. Normally, here a ski review would summarise the description on the manufacturer's homepage. For me, however, this usually reads like the address on the back of a bottle of red wine and I think most of you will be more interested in how the ski performed in practice.

Two seasons ago, Scott launched the Scrapper 115, the little brother of the Scrapper 124, which was a huge success: The ski is light, robust, playful and stable at the same time. I put this season's ski to the test, or rather under my feet.

Just like last year, the ski brands represented at the trade fair are becoming fewer and fewer. After the absence of the major Amer Sports brands Atomic and Salomon (and therefore also Armada) since last year, Black Crows, for example, is now also missing.

Völkl promises "the optimum balance between ascent and descent performance" for the VTA 108. This balance between low weight on the ascent and stability as well as maximum length and width for the descent has been the holy grail of freeride ski manufacturers for a few years now. We tested whether Völkl has found the holy grail with the VTA 108.

"Is it time to stop seeing Dynafit as a purely ascent-oriented (ski) manufacturer?" The product developers probably asked themselves this very question a few years ago and expanded the range to include some downhill-oriented ski models. The Dynafit range is now divided into four areas: Race, Speed, Tour and Free. The Beast 108 is the widest and most downhill-oriented ski in the Free segment.

Skis, snowboards and clothing, far removed from the motto "Shrink it and pink it": Coalition Snow is shaking up the ski industry and producing skis - by female skiers for female skiers.

With the Confession, Völkl has been offering a real big mountain ski since the 16/17 season. 117mm under the binding, a titanium strap and a stiff shovel make the Confession a casual high-speed toy. You can read about how the ski performs in detail here.

The new products in the ski sector are very limited this year, as is the number of manufacturers still represented at ISPO. Amer Sports (Atomic, Salomon, Armada) was no longer at the trade fair this year and other companies are also exercising more and more restraint in terms of their stand presence.

The SENDr came to me unexpectedly, but at exactly the right time. My old ski still works, but its best days are over and the ravages of the mountains have taken their toll on it. So I'm more than happy to have the opportunity to test this new gliding device.