Black Diamond Carbon Convert

Construction Most skis sport a wood-and-fiberglass core, but these employ carbon (which sheds 1 pound from the regular Converts) with three cut-out ribs on each ski that lower weight and increase snappiness. “These skis never chattered, even on hardpack,” one editor says. “Unlike some other lightweight options, they held rigid through the completion of each and every turn.”

Stability One 5’4”, 120-pound skier called the Convert trustworthy. “I found it easy to correct, even when I got off-balance at high speed.” She adds that the only time she “blew up” was when she changed her turn shape from long, sweeping GS turns to short, wiggly slalom ones. “The transition was sluggish,” she says.

Float Because of its width, it skims the lightest of powder. And “it easily pushes through heavier, days-old powder piles,” one tester says. Its surfiness comes from an exaggerated tip rocker (upward lift), a stiffer-than-average tail, and a strong-but-low-weight construction of carbon, fiberglass, and featherweight paulownia wood.

$900; 6 lbs. 1 oz. (172); 164 (131-105-116), 172 (132-105-116), 180 (133-105-117), 188 (134-105-117); blackdiamondequipment.com