Black Crows Corvus 25/26

The Corvus is Black Crows' original freeride ski — the model the brand was built around back in 2007, now in its fifth generation. It's a 110mm big-mountain charger: classic camber underfoot for strong edge grip and rebound, a straight-ish sidecut and double rocker for stability at speed plus the ability to pivot in couloirs and tight spots, and a single titanal plate for the damping and composure to charge through variable, chopped-up snow.

It's for an advanced-to-expert skier who skis big terrain fast — long turns, steep lines, high-speed descents. At 110mm with a 25m radius and metal it's a directional charger, not a quick or playful ski, and not a frontside carver or a beginner ski. If you want a more playful, freestyle-leaning wide ski, the Anima is the call; if you ski mostly groomers, this is far more ski than you need.