2022 Atomic Maverick 86 C

On the lighter and funner end of the all-new Maverick spectrum, the 86 C is a quick, agile, and fun ski that has a wide range of uses and applications. While this fits into more of the intermediate spectrum, it’s got a pretty fair amount of energy and pop to it, and that’s just the way we like our skis in this range. Built with a poplar wood core, a fiberglass laminate, and carbon stringers, the Maverick 86 C shares the similar shaping to the more advanced 88 Ti, but a bit narrower and with no metal. As a result, it’s on the quicker side of the spectrum, and makes a great ski for bumps and trees for skiers of any and all levels. Happier at mellower speeds and in a variety of turn shapes and styles, these skis are poised and ready to take the average intermediate to the next level, all the while satisfying the upper-end needs and wants of advanced and expert skiers who value quickness and agility. Making the ski even lighter and more approachable is the combination of Atomic’s Duracap construction and their HRZN technology in the tips. The Duracap build allows for a good combination of sidewall power and cap snappiness. In the rockered portions of the tips and tails, the ski goes to a full-cap, allowing for better quickness and easier entry and exit to the turn. This technology is shared all the way up in the Maverick collection, so rest assured, this is a top-end way of building a ski. To increase flotation without adding width, Atomic adds their HRZN tech which makes the shovel of the ski act like a boat hull. They turn up the sides of the tips in order to add surface area within the same footprint. Again, this is found in all of Atomic’s freeride and all-mountain skis, so it’s a proven technology that skiers really enjoy.

Benny Wax was just one of those skiers who enjoyed the easy-going nature and all-mountain versatility of the Maverick 86 C. He skied the 184 and noted that the length was “above my pay grade,” which I infer to mean that it was on the long side for him. As a result of that length, Benny’s score of 4 out of 5 for stability is totally understandable. Also taking his high scores of 4 was overall impression, versatility, and torsional stiffness, so it does sound like there’s a good amount of fact behind the theory that the carbon adds a good amount of stiffness to the flex of the ski, and that’s a good thing for a lot of skiers. About the Maverick 86 C, Benny notes that it’s a “nice ski for intermediate on-piste skier! Hugs the snow and holds its carve!” That “hugging” that he talks about is going to increase the confidence of a lot of skiers when they are learning to perfect the turn, allowing them to dig and drive deeper into the turn.

Also on the 184, David Wolfgang noted that the length felt right for him. He’s taller than Benny, so it makes sense for this ski for sure. David scored the ski 3’s out of 5 for stability, torsional stiffness, and edge grip, with the remainder of his scores as 4’s out of 5, once again showing the high-end capabilities of this ski, and its broad appeal to a wide variety of skiers, terrain, and snow conditions. While we’re not going to mistake an 86 mm underfoot ski for a powder ski, it does have the HRZN tips that add to the surface area, so taken with a grain of salt, this 86 is a decent floater. From David: “This is a great ski for the novice to advance skier. Very forgiving but willing to ramp up when ask. Transitions to all types of turns with ease.” David astutely points out that this ski has that big range, going from novice to advanced, so a good way of thinking about it is that if you are looking for your first set of skis and don’t quite know what to get, the Atomic Maverick 86 C is going to be a top choice.

A lot of skis like this go under the radar, and we wish it wasn’t so. Light and fun skis are great in a variety of conditions and terrain, and companies like Atomic have gotten very good over the past few years of making them perform well above their level. Not everyone needs metal in their skis, but a lot of skiers think they do. As a result, when a ski like the Maverick 86 C comes out, it reminds us that skis without metal can do a whole lot of things well without being too heavy, tough, or demanding, and that’s what it’s really all about.