2022 Black Crows Divus

If you called it a narrower Orb, we wouldn’t disagree too much. For a long time, Black Crows has stayed away from building a brand within a brand, like the Enforcer series from Nordica, instead relying on different skis within certain categories. Recently, however, we’ve seen some deviation from that philosophy, and the Divus can arguably be lumped in now with the Orb, Serpo, and Justis, as the narrower-end of the all-mountain spectrum. Built with a poplar wood core and two H-Shaped titanal plates, the Divus has a lot of edge grip and the ability to carve a very clean and round turn. Skiers in the intermediate to expert range who are looking for an 82 mm underfoot ski that blurs the line between front side and all-mountain will feel right at home on the capable Divus. Quick, energetic, and a whole lot of fun on groomed terrain, the Divus is a front-side masterpiece with all-mountain tendencies.

The father-son duo of David and Josh Wolfgang both got on the 177. David noted that while it skied true to size, he’d prefer to ski the 182. As a result, we see appropriate test scores for the shorter size. David gave the Divus 5’s out of 5 for quickness, maneuverability, torsional stiffness, and edge hold, and these high marks are certainly consistent with the shorter ski that has two partial metal laminates. At 82 mm underfoot, with two titanal sheets, the Divus can definitely hold an edge with the best of them. Quick and maneuverable as well, thanks to the lighter tips and tails, especially when combined with that narrower waist width. With the exception of a lowly, and unsurprising, 3 for flotation, the rest of his scores were 4’s, showing a high-end and well-rounded character of the Divus. David notes that the Divus was “Fun and lively. Excellent edge hold. Easy turning and loves the fall line.” I think a lot of skiers are going to get that “easy” feeling in the turns with these skis, as that’s kind of a hallmark of a lot of the narrower all-mountain skis. Son Josh also felt the 177 was on the short and quick side, but that’s what you’re going to get with multiple testers who are all over 6 feet tall. Either way, Josh also had top marks of 4 out of 5 for quickness, maneuverability, playfulness, versatility, torsional stiffness, edge hold, and overall impression. With a variety of high scores like this, it’s no surprise that the Divus has been and will continue to be a fan-favorite. Josh notes that the Divus “maintains its fun BC feeling that you get from a bunch of models across the brand. Narrow and quicker on edge because of that. Kinda feels like it goes up against the enforcer 88 but is more fun than that ski. However, it’s a bit worse than the Enforcer at engaging and holding a carve.” That’s not terribly surprising, as the metal in the Enforcer series skis continues all the way through the tips and tails, while that of the Divus does not.

Another tall guy on a shorter ski, Marcus Shakun would also be at home on the 182 over the 177, but that didn’t stop him from having a good time himself on it, as well as noting a universal appeal for a ski like the Divus. Overall impression, stability, quickness, maneuverability, torsional stiffness, and edge grip all got top marks of 5 out of 5, and that’s good enough for me to see that these Divus skis have a lot to offer in terms of a carving and turning realm. At 6’5”, Marcus is one of our taller testers, and for him to have that type of experience on a 177 cm all-mountain ski is pretty awesome. He notes that the Divus is a “Great Morning Wake Up! If you want to get your morning turn count in and wake up your legs....Here you go!! The advanced to expert skier that wants a frontside morning carving stick from Black Crows. Nice quick edge to edge and with confidence on edge hold. Rip out a ton of short turns and lock in a few medium-radius turns too. This ski grips to the hard fast groomers. Really is a lively ski and gives good feedback the more you dive into it. Not so great when it softens up in spring such as a bit narrow under foot.” I don’t think a lot of people will mistake the Divus for a soft-snow specialist, so Marcus’ comments are right on the money here.

At 82 mm underfoot, these Divus skis are blurring that front-side to all-mountain line, and a lot of skiers will definitely place themselves in that category. If you’re the type of skier who likes a responsive, light, and energetic ski on the groomers, but doesn’t want to be weighed down by a more race-like build, the Black Crows Divus is here for you and your carving needs. Equally at home in bumps and tighter trees, the quick Divus loves to be in a turn, and will take you farther than you think in terms of versatility.