Powder Review: blackcrows Atris
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In a Nutshell
The blackcrows Atris is a fairly versatile playful all-mountain ski. It’s not the most poppy or energetic, but it does a really good job of absorbing small chatter while still being fun and engaging in most conditions.
Length Skied: 184.3 cm
Weight: 2026 g
Stated Dimensions: 138-105-122 mm
Stated Sidecut: 20 m
Recommended Mount Point: -8 cm
The blackcrows Atris is available now.
Intro
If you haven’t heard of, or skied a blackcrows ski before, the Atris is a good introduction point. It’s historically been one of their more versatile and approachable skis, and this new version continues that trend.
The Atris is blackcrows’ more playful “Big Mountain” ski, and at 105 mm underfoot, it falls nicely into the all-mountain box for many North American skiers. They also make the Corvus, which is slightly heavier, stiffer, and straighter, for more directional skiers.
I managed to get time in a variety of conditions, from pow to bulletproof groomers on the Atris, here’s how it stacked up.
Length and Mount Point
I skied the 184.3 cm Atris. I typically choose skis in the 184-186 ish length range inbounds, so the 184.3 cm Atris worked nicely for me. blackcrows makes the Atris in lengths ranging from 172 to 190 cm, and also makes the Atris Birdie in lengths ranging from 160 to 178 cm, so there’s plenty of size options for those looking for a shorter or longer ski.
The recommended mount point of the Atris is -8 cm, which is relatively far back for a “freestyle” all-mountain ski, but right in line with plenty of other similar do-it-all skis. I also skied the Atris at +2 cm (-6 cm from center), and will dive into how it felt there as well later on.
Where does the Atris shine?
In some ways, all-mountain skis like the Atris are some of the most difficult to review since they’re meant to do everything well. That said, the Atris has a pretty distinctive ride quality that holds true across a wide variety of conditions. The Atris does a good job of absorbing impacts and chatter, regardless of the snow conditions. It feels like its combination of flex and construction combine to make it feel “quiet,” there’s not too much energy transmitted through the ski to your feet.
In soft, fresh or chopped up snow, the Atris is a lot of fun. It’s not a ski that you can just stand on and plow through everything, but it’s easy to carve and smear around, and over piles of snow. It’s easy to get into the air, and provides a nice, stable platform to land on.
It’s worth noting that blackcrows makes two similar skis that are both wider than the Atris, the Anima and Nocta, that both are significantly more fun in fresh snow. For some brands, their 106ish underfoot ski is their second widest ski, and it feels like they embrace that, by making that ski really fun and playful in powder. By contrast, the Atris isn’t as floaty and loose in fresh snow as something like the Salomon QST 106 or Fischer Ranger 108. Instead, the Anima and Nocta fill that role.
On groomers the Atris is smooth and predictable, but not that energetic. It’s easy to carve big arcs with, but it doesn’t beg you to push harder and harder like some other, similar skis do.
I also tried the Atris with the bindings bumped up 2cm, for a -6 mount point. At -6, I felt that the Atris made a little more sense for more centered, playful skiers. It was easier to pivot and turn, and felt more balanced in the air. No matter where you mount it, the Atris doesn’t do a great job of plowing through piles of snow, so I didn’t feel like moving it forward hurt its versatility that much. Playful skiers looking to spin and air everything they can should consider bumping their bindings forward of recommended on the Atris.
Where does the Atris make some compromises?
Up higher I mentioned that it doesn’t feel like the Atris transmits much energy or feedback from the snow up through your feet. That’s a double edged sword. Sure, it means that you’re not feeling every bump and imperfection in the snow, but it also means that the ski doesn’t reward a playful, energetic skiing style as much as it could. It doesn’t bounce you out of a turn, giving back the energy you put in bending the ski into a carve. Instead it feels like it absorbs more of the skier’s inputs than most other skis in this class. It’s not “dead” per-say, but it’s a lot less energetic than skis like the Faction Dancer 3 for example.
I also noticed that the Atris doesn’t feel “precise” in firmer conditions. It has fine edge hold, and I’m always cautious to bandy about terms like “torsional rigidity” but, if I had to guess, I’d say that the Atris isn’t a very torsionally rigid ski. It felt like it had a slight tendency to twist while it was on edge, so that the tips were carving while the tails felt more like they were smearing. That wasn’t a wholly negative thing, but skiing the Atris back to back with the Fischer Ranger 108, Faction Dancer 3, and even the Salomon QST Echo, it felt like it had less of that taught, precise character than any of those skis.
That combination means that the Atris is happier smearing turns than carving them in variable snow, and it takes a little more work to pop and play on.
What would a perfect day on the Atris look like?
It snowed yesterday, and now it’s clear and still soft. You’re skiing variable snow, deep stashes left in the trees, and soft chop out in the open, wiggling around with your friends, taking air of the occasional cat track, hot lapping on the Atris.
