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abjectwoe
May, 2025

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Why did every freeride company make a frontside Carver this year?

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BigPurpleSkiSuit
Posts: 9627 - Karma: 71,604
Armada Declivity
K2 Disruption
Line Blade

My personal theory is they all want to capitalize on the soul 7 getting discontinued(also why would they do that?)
5 years ago
8 2
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-eREKTion-
Posts: 1632 - Karma: 10,996
Armada has had the Invictus series for years and honestly the Declivity is a bit more freeride focused the those were. K2 has literally always made multiple lines of frontside skis, iKonic and Chargers are around at the moment. Line Blade is weird but still interesting; 95mm waist and a bit of tail rise on a tight radius ostensibly groomer-zoomer type ski. The freeski universe will survive these incursions into our hard fought territory.
5 years ago
14 0
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CLQ
Posts: 2709 - Karma: 11,271
Whats wrong with frontside carvers?
5 years ago
22 2
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BigPurpleSkiSuit
Posts: 9627 - Karma: 71,604
I'm not complaining, I just thought it was quite the coincidence
-eREKTion-Armada has had the Invictus series for years and honestly the Declivity is a bit more freeride focused the those were. K2 has literally always made multiple lines of frontside skis, iKonic and Chargers are around at the moment. Line Blade is weird but still interesting; 95mm waist and a bit of tail rise on a tight radius ostensibly groomer-zoomer type ski. The freeski universe will survive these incursions into our hard fought territory.
5 years ago
1 0
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GrandThings
Posts: 3318 - Karma: 34,303
I've been wondering about this as well and assumed it has to do with an aging park demographic.

i.e kids that grew up only buying park skis are starting to age out of that "park rat, only rides twin-tips" demo and are starting to get more into touring, BC, and more all-mountain oriented riding. (Slamming on a flat rail for three hours straight is a young mans game, but you can rip groomers forever).

I'd bet these companies are starting to pick up on this and are marketing/making skis for the "former" park crowed who are entering their later twenties and early thirties.

Personally, I've already started to think about getting a pair of non-twins (something I never would have considered even 3 years ago) and cant wait to try out some of these new options.
5 years ago
16 0
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anders_a
Posts: 1680 - Karma: 5,605
I think GrandThings nailed it.

I cannot ride park all day, too old, beatup, fat, etc, I still try though, and wipe out, the recovery each time grows with age.

We have morningski sessions once a week from 6:45 in the morning where only season card holders can go, perfect groomers, everybody carving fast, its.... fun! Jumping the steeps in the hills is accepted as well.

If I could choose I would just ride powder all day every day, but its not realistic, if I can do 1-3,hours of skiiing before going to work, its awesome.
5 years ago
4 0
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hi_vis360
Posts: 5337 - Karma: 55,465
the aging park demographic is a part of it for sure, as well as the "return of the turn" which is a trend mirroring whats been happening in snowboarding for a few years now. The thing is, a bunch of freestyle companies have tried to make frontside carving skis in the past but they would always get discontinued soon after, probably cause they didn't sell well.

My theory is that the Sakana has sold extremely well, so now every company is trying to get on the "cool carving ski" wave.
5 years ago
2 0
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anders_a
Posts: 1680 - Karma: 5,605
Speaking of, Markus Caston is awesome.
5 years ago
5 0
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TRVP_ANGEL
Posts: 12711 - Karma: 120,195
what the fuck is a frontside carver
5 years ago
10 7
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anders_a
Posts: 1680 - Karma: 5,605
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcq_dftkBM4
5 years ago
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powpatrol
Posts: 1761 - Karma: 11,494
Found tha fun
5 years ago
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snowfinder
Posts: 2941 - Karma: 34,923
Snowboard companies started doing the same thing about 5-10 years ago, fish tail surfy fs bombers. They did it for the same reason the guys in the park started to venture out but still want that freeride feel.
5 years ago
4 0
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patagonialuke
Posts: 1627 - Karma: 8,689
I'm all for it. The Sakana and Blade are incredibly fun, and I'm super excited to try the Armada Stranger. I don't really see those as skis I'd choose as a 1-ski quiver, but they offer something totally different than pretty much anything else on the market, and I'd definitely put them in a quiver. Trying to drag your hips is really fun, and having a ski that lets you do that without totally sucking off piste and actually being playful is even more fun.
5 years ago
12 0
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wasatch_rat
Posts: 1773 - Karma: 2,969
Because they sell
5 years ago
5 0
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6747 - Karma: 11,771
wasatch_ratBecause they sell


Ding Ding Ding

90% of the ski market skis on groomers. If you are a freeski brand and want your brand to get placed in a shop, you need a ski that appeals to biggest chunk of skiers and where most people ski.

The Blade is still too far out there for the average skier, but it just shows that if you want to do business, you need to have at least one ski in your range that can rip up a groomer and do it easily.
5 years ago
8 0
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,056
Front side carving skis sell extremely well. I'd be curious to get on the Blade to see what it is all about.
5 years ago
1 0
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84west
Posts: 646 - Karma: 1,254
onenerdykidDing Ding Ding

90% of the ski market skis on groomers. If you are a freeski brand and want your brand to get placed in a shop, you need a ski that appeals to biggest chunk of skiers and where most people ski.

The Blade is still too far out there for the average skier, but it just shows that if you want to do business, you need to have at least one ski in your range that can rip up a groomer and do it easily.

Back when I worked in a shop we would sell multiples more frontside groomer focused skis then pow and park skis combined. This was when volkl had just come out with a couple skis at like 90 and 100 underfoot with just a little bit of early rise. Those sold incredibly well to people who aspired to start skiing more moguls or off piste, but really spent most of their time skiing with their wife and kids (aka the demographic with the most money to buy new shit every year). They’re not the coolest skis and I might not buy them, but they skies really fucking well. I’m sure a lot of people on here would be amazed how fun skis like that are to just rip around on, especially if they’re coming from a detuned symmetrical twin.
5 years ago
4 0
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Bonzalo
Posts: 2593 - Karma: 1,812
TRVP_ANGELwhat the fuck is a frontside carver


yeah what kind of term is that, you guys have actually never skied outside the park smh
next year im getting a racing pair, maybe even a factory prepared used pair
5 years ago
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