Backpacker Magazine – Fall Gear Guide 2009

Gear Review: Black Diamond Justice Alpine Touring Ski

Whether it's touring, powder or inbounds, this ski does it all.

by: Dana Allen, Berne Broudy, Jonathan Dorn, Alex Graham, Kristin Hostetter

Tags:
• Gear
|
• Fitness
|
• Adventures
|
• Technique
|

---

The perfect AT ski is light enough for touring, fat enough for powder, and responsive enough for a day of inbounds. The Justice does it all. The 115-mm underfoot width helped one tester float through 42 inches of Wasatch fluff. But even when another tester was resort skiing–carving big GS turns down Stowe's Front Four–she said, "These boards turn on a dime and still felt floaty when I banked off-trail into the woods."

A poplar core, combined with a gently rockered tip and minimal camber, helps you carve better turns with less effort. In a pinch it can handle hardpack and crud, though it wouldn't be our top choice for those conditions. Pair it with BD's new Ascension Nylon Split STS skin ($190). $729; 9 lbs. 2 oz. (185cm); 175cm (138/115/123), 185cm (140/115/125); bdel.com

Subscribe to Backpacker magazine
Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter