Gear

Category: Women's Freeride; Category ranking: No. 3; Average score: 3.32; Balance of skills: 3.48; Best for: A wide range of abilities; Not for: East Coast or Midwest boilerplate

Category: Women's Freeride; Category ranking: No. 2; Average score: 3.38; Balance of skills: 3.35; Best for: Tahoe crud; Not for: Mary Jane: It’s too stiff to zipper down bumps.

Category: Women's Freeride; Category ranking: No. 6 (tie); Average score: 3.29; Balance of skills: 3.37; Best for: Maching through soft snow; Not for: Lighter, less aggressive skiers

Intermediate

Intermediate

Category: Women's Freeride; Category ranking: No. 4 (tie); Average score: 3.31; Balance of skills: 3.23; Best for: Athletic skiers: It reacts quickly to pressure. Not for: Sunday drivers: This ski demands attention.

Intermediate

Skins sure have changed since the days of animal fur. Here are five new technologies to help you get uphill faster and easier.

Cruiser

Cruiser

Category: Women's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 4; Average score: 3.51; Balance of skills: 3.69; Best for: Amazing grip on the groomed; Not for: Bumps. The Tierra isn’t the quickest stick.

Cruiser

Cruiser

Freeride

Category: Women's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 3; Average score: 3.53; Balance of skills: 3.54; Best for: Baring its teeth on ice; Not for: Deep powder; it has a heavy, grippy feel.

Freeride

Freeride

Category: Women's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 5; Average score 3.34; Balance of skills: 3.36; Best for: A Westerner’s one-ski quiver; Not for: East Coast technicians: It’s too forgiving.

Freeride

Freeride

Tell us where this photo was taken and win free skis!

Speed

Intermediate

Category: Women's Cruiser; Category ranking No. 6; Average score 3.27; Balance of skills: 3.39; Best for: Enjoying the scenery; Not for: Someone who wants a damp, burly ski

Cruiser

Cruiser

Cruiser

Category: Women's Cruiser; Category ranking No. 1; Average score 3.96; Balance of skills: 3.83; Best for: Cranking tight turns on hardpack; Not for: The lethargic or unathletic: It’s got energy.

Cruiser

Cruiser

Category: Women's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 2; Average score: 3.55; Balance of skills: 3.83; Best for: Holding an edge at speed; Not for: The sidelines. This ski likes action.

Freeride

Freeride

Category: Men's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 7; Average score: 3.11; Balance of skills: 2.65; Best For: High-speed carving on soft groomers; Not For: Slalom-ready quickness

Freeride

Freeride

Freeride

Freeride

Category: Men's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 3 (tie); Average score: 3.31; Balance of skills: 3.37; Best for: All-terrain versatility, emphasis on groomers; Not for: Highly technical short-turn carving

What the Numbers Mean

Category: Men's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 1; Average score: 3.51; Balance of skills: 3.59; Best For: All-day comfort with exacting performance; Not For: Frozen corduroy or blue East Coast ice

Freeride

Freeride

Freeride

Category: Men's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 5 (tie); Average score: 3.12; Balance of skills: 3.03; Best for: Combination of fluidity and quickness; Not for: Crud, where it gets nervous

Freeride

Freeride

Category: Men's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 2; Average score: 3.32; Balance of skills: 3.38; Best for: Snow-condition versatility; Not for: The hardest of Eastern ice

Speed

Speed

Speed

Category: Men's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 5 (tie); Average score: 3.12; Balance of skills: 3.08; Best for: Tip, rip, repeat: a carving machine; Not for: Skidded turns or bumps

Speed

Category: Men's Cruiser; Category ranking: No. 3 (tie); Average score: 3.31; Balance of skills: 3.26; Best for: Long, fast arcs on the groomed; Not for: Crud, where it’s a little too edgy and energetic

Category: Men's Powder Super Wide; Category ranking: No. 1; Average score: 3.56; Balance of skills: 3.48; Best For: Smearing, surfy style in deep snow; Not For: Hard-snow carving or tight-spot quickness

Category: Men's Powder Super Wide; Category ranking: No. 4; Average score: 3.51; Balance of skills: 3.48; Best for: Skimming deep stuff at speed; Not for: Skied-off chutes or hardpack

Category: Men's Powder Super Wide; Category ranking: No. 2 (tie); Average score: 3.55; Balance of skills: 3.15; Best for: A relaxed, surfy approach in deep snow; Not for: Versatility in non-powder situations

Category ranking: No. 5 Average score: 3.50 Balance of skills: 3.48 Best For: GS-ing big-mountain powder fields at speed Not For: Quick-footed, finesseful technique

Category: Men's Powder Super Wide; Category ranking: No. 7; Average score: 3.33; Balance of skills: 3.5; Best for: Bottomless fluff; Not for: Smooth riding in stiff or wind-affected powder

Category: Men's Powder Super Wide; Category ranking: No. 9; Average score: 3.13; Balance of skills: 3.1; Best for: Power-carving through deep chop; Not for: A laid-back or lazy attack

Category ranking: No. 8 Average score: 3.15 Balance of skills: 2.97 Best for: Huge rooster tails; 1,000 vert in 10 turns Not for: Quickness in bumps or Eastern trees

Category ranking: No. 2 (tie) Average score: 3.55 Balance of skills: 3.54 Best for; Getting more than your share of powder Not for; Tight trees and/or Eastern versatility

Category: Men's Powder Super Wide; Category ranking: No. 6; Average score: 3.39; Balance of skills: 3.37; Best for: Attacking technical lines in deep snow; Not for: New-school, surfy-smeary powder technique

Category ranking: No. 2 Average score: 3.47 Balance of skills: 2.84 Best For: Medium- to long-radius arcs at top speeds Not For: Slalomy quickness

Category: Men's Speed; Category ranking: No. 6; Average score: 3.00; Balance of skills: 3.18; Best for: Relaxed high-speed cruising; Not for: Actually, you know, racing on the thing

Category: Men's Speed; Category ranking: No. 4; Average score: 3.28; Balance of Skills: 3.25 Best for: Making soft groomed your racecourse; Not for: Lazy skidding; it likes to be on edge

Category: Men's Speed; Category ranking: No. 5; Average score: 3.07; Balance of Skills: 2.98; Best For: Gaining new confidence at high speeds; Not For; Soft snow (even by this category’s standards)

Category: Men's Speed; Category ranking: No. 3; Average score: 3.28; Best for: Medium arcs with strong finishes; Not for: Fast speeds on a regular basis

Category ranking: No. 1 Average score: 3.60 Best for: NASTAR gold; looking good on ice Not for: Soft snow, where it trenches too deeply

Category ranking: No. 3 Average score: 3.77 Balance of skills: 3.62 Best For: Smoothing rough terrain; gaining confidence Not For: The quickest of turns in the tightest of spots

Category: Men's Powder Wide; Category ranking: No. 4 Average score: 3.65 Best for: A fluid, quick-footed attack Not for: Wide-open bowls at super G speeds

Category ranking: No. 1 (tie) Average score: 3.78 Best For: Versatility (a great Eastern powder ski) Not For: Smearing, surfing in deepest powder

Category: Men's Powder Wide; Category ranking: No. 8; Average score: 3.21; Balance of skills: 3.2; Best for: Light-touch technique, updating your image; Not for: Technical descents requiring quickness

Category: Men's Powder Wide; Category ranking: No. 9; Average score: 3.19; Balance of skills: 3.28; Best for: Long-turn, high-speed power surfing; Not for: The underweight or underaggressive

Category: Men's Powder Wide; Category ranking: No. 7; Average score: 3.26; Balance of skills: 3.4; Best for: Traditional in-the-fall-line attack; Not for: Hard snow, where its talents are wasted

Category: Men's Powder Wide; Category ranking: No. 6; Average score: 3.34; Balance of skills: 3.2; Best for: Looking good and feeling confident at speed; Not for: Cautious and/or lightweight skiers

Category ranking: No. 5 Average score: 3.35 Balance of skills: 3.38 Best for: Aggressively charging the fall line Not for: Weak or tentative technique

Category ranking: No. 1 (tie) Average score: 3.78 Balance of skills: 3.96 Best for: Athletic skiers who can handle the rebound Not for: Lightweights or the overly cautious

Category ranking: No. 3 (tie) Average score: 3.28 Balance of skills: 3.21 Best For: An improving carver looking for speed Not For: Improving your powder game

Speed