Armada refers to the ARV 106 as one of their most versatile all mountain freeride skis, and there’s no wonder why. At 106 mm under foot with a rocker/camber/rocker profile, the ski can handle a lot of different snow conditions and terrain. The Pop-Lite Core is lightweight, yet has a nice amount of torsional stiffness and stability for being so light. The ARV 106 is designed to be playful and fun whether you’re skiing powder, the terrain park, or anything in between.
Jake Inger tested the 180 cm length and described the ARV 106 as a “fun all mountain park ski.” He thought on the spectrum of all mountain skis it “definitely felt more park oriented. The ski went in the air and was able to move around well.” Jake’s feedback on the ARV 106 is supported by his scores, 5 out of 5 for stability, playfulness, and forgiveness. We’ve seen a few testers give the ARV models high scores for both stability and forgiveness, which is always rare and is an impressive combination of performance characteristics.
Noah Labow also skied the 180 cm ARV 106 and thought it “skis like a classic fat twin tip.” He thought the “light rocker and camber gives the ski a nice, playful feel,” and we think the Pop-Lite core construction is adding to that feel as well. Noah didn’t give it a single score under 4, with flotation, playfulness, versatility, and overall impression all earning 5 out of 5.
Hans von Briesen described the ARV 106 as a “fun, big mountain park ski.” That’s a good way to think about it. It essentially takes freestyle park performance and puts it in a shape that’s more suitable for softer snow and freeride, big mountain conditions. Hans thought it was “well balanced, agile, and solid,” but did note that it didn’t feel exceptionally energetic. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you’re looking for. The ARV 106 takes well to skier input and will act accordingly to how you want to ski without any surprises. Hans tested the 180 cm length.
Marcus Shakun also skied the 180 cm ARV 106, although someone his size could easily justify moving up to the 188. Marcus described it as “surfy and smeary through soft snow, but still charges big, fast turns.” That’s impressive feedback from Marcus. If it can hold up to his big, fast turns, it clearly has good stability. Marcus went on to describe how the shape and flex of the ARV 106 affects performance: “Playful and forgiving tip, tail is a bit stiffer, which helps with high speed turns through mixed snow.”
Jeff Neagle also skied the ARV 106 in the 180 cm length and described it as a “classic freestyle/freeride ski. Take some park laps, ski some powder, slash big turns all over the mountain. If I lived out west still a ski like this would be my every day ride, but it feels like more of a soft-snow ski for here on the east.” Jeff gave the ARV 106 5 out of 5 for playfulness, versatility, and overall impression, with all other criteria getting a 4.
If you’re in the market for a fun, playful all mountain ski that’s super capable in soft snow, the ARV 106 should be on your radar. Some skiers will choose to ski it in the terrain park from time to time, while others will use it as more of a dedicated soft-snow/powder ski. It depends on the skier, as the ARV 106 can play a lot of different rolls. One thing remains constant, however: It’s a lot of fun to ski.
