Völkl Rise Beyond 98

In the eyes of our testers, this ski could do no wrong: “I felt like any objective I wanted to tackle was going to be possible,” one says. “It’s light and agile, which added pep to my step on the way up and confidence to my turns on the way down.” True to his word, he put the Rise Beyond through its paces in a variety of conditions—cold-smoke pow, chatter-inducing ice, and soft spring corn—and it excelled through them all. A beech, poplar, and paulownia wood core makes the Rise Beyond both stable and responsive (“laying out big turns is where this ski shines,” our tester says), and carbon tips shave weight and allow it to float above deep snow. Its 98-millimeter width also strikes the right balance between float and precision. “Thanks to the light weight, I trusted it for steep jump turns,” our tester reported after a spring descent of Mt. Elbert’s Box Creek Cirque. $825; 6 lbs. 5 oz. (177); five lengths