Gear Review: Ski Trab Volare

[one-ski quiver]

The perfect do-it-all ski is stiff, stable, and responsive enough to handle corduroy, bumps, and hardpack, but wide enough to surf a foot of powder. It also has to be light enough to tour all day or yo-yo on a 2,000-foot stash. The Volare outperformed the competition in all of the above. At just 6 pounds, 8 ounces (in a 171cm length), the pair weighs less than any of the other models in this category, thanks to materials like carbon fiber and fiberglass in the top sheet, and a honeycomb of superlight, incredibly strong material called aramid (also used to construct space shuttles). Carbon steel edges bite into steep, icy faces, increasing skiers’ confidence, which translates to increased fun. An oversize tip skims through powder like a much fatter ski. And a swallow tail, with two different stiffnesses on either side of a U-shaped groove in the middle, makes steering a breeze in both short radius (slalom) and long radius (GS-style) turns. Built by hand in small batches, the Volares are exceptionally durable. “I could tell the second I got on these that they’re well-built race machines,” said one tester after a six-inch powder day at Colorado’s Eldora Resort. “But what I didn’t count on was how nimbly it would pop from turn to turn on hardpack, crust, and ice chunks.” $900; 6 lbs. 8 oz. (185cm); 164, 171, 178, 185 (129/99/116 for all lengths); skitrab.com