Dynafit Denali Skis
The superlight Denali turns on a dime in tight terrain, yet floats like a champ in champagne powder.
Brand: Dynafit
Model: Denali
Agility At 99 mm wide underfoot (in a 184), we questioned the Denali’s agility in tight situations. But one tester, after taking it into the chutes and couloirs of Colorado’s Gore Range, called it “smooth edge-to-edge” while also being “lightweight and flickable.” He credits the ski’s carbon tip, which absorbs vibrations on hard snow, leading to smoother transitions. Carbon stringers overlay onto a 100-percent paulownia wood core, making the ski stiff (good for initiating and holding turns), lightweight, and quiet (not jarring or chattery) on hard snow.
Stability “I got tossed around in refrozen, runnelled, blocky snow, as I would on most skis this light,” one tester says. “Yet in soft stuff, stability—even at high speed—is awesome.”
Touring They’re the second-lightest in the test. “I could barely feel them on my back,” one tester said after bootpacking up Colorado’s 12,902-foot Deming Mountain.
$900; 5 lbs. 6 oz. (176); 168 (130-97-115), 176 (131-98-116 ), 184 (132-99-117), 193 (133-100-118); dynafit.com