Ski the Laser MX and Stöckli's comfort brief shows itself: this is the easygoing half of the women's Laser pair, tuned to hold an edge without a racer's effort. The 26/27 is the third season of the 24/25 redesign that widened the MX to 71 mm and added Turtle Shell 2.0, so nothing about it is new, and the one true independent on-snow test of this generation still describes today's ski. That test - a single magazine review - called turn initiation and release smooth and predictable, and was surprised how far the versatility stretched. It is one outlet, and we treat it as one: an independent profile is not a second test.

Most of how it skis comes from Turtle Shell 2.0, which Stöckli calls torsionally neutral at leisurely speeds and athletic and stable at higher tempos; on snow the same magazine put it plainly - it flexes easily at lower speeds but locks in for power when pushed harder. The forgiveness is built into the shape too: the widest contact point sits forward and the tail is rockered, so the ski enters and leaves a turn without fuss.

The limits are just as clear. It is a piste specialist however friendly it feels: at 71 mm, with an independent profile filing it as an all-piste ski with no powder rating, soft-snow days belong to another ski. It is also deliberately not the sharp one - no racing sidewalls, no full-camber race geometry, a soft sidecut and a softer 1.5° base tune - because the carve-precision ceiling in the women's line is the Laser MP's job. And the paper record is thin: Stöckli publishes no weight and no Titanal sheet count, its own website still prints the previous generation's narrower sidecut, and there is a single on-snow test to lean on.

Its place in the line decides most purchases. The Laser MP is the sporty half - 67 mm, racing sidewalls, a 1.0° base and full camber - sharper on firm snow and hungrier for edge angle; take the MP if you attack short turns, the MX for ease and tolerance. The unisex Laser CX runs the identical Piste Core Light, Turtle Shell 2.0 and ACL/TR package without the softer women's build, in longer lengths. The wider Laser SX (74 mm) is the redesigned all-rounder built to hold stability at high speeds - the route for taller or faster skiers the MX's 164 cm ceiling and mid-scale speed band leave out.

Sizing is simple because the shape never changes: length alone sets the radius - a quick 11.0 m at the 146, out to 14.3 m at the 164. PTO stocks the 146, 152 and 158, with the 164 Stöckli lists left out of our range; pick the 146 for the fastest short-turn rhythm, the 158 for longer, steadier arcs. It is a plate system: buy it complete with the MC 11 binding fitted to your boots by a technician, and the binding section below lists the exact options.