2022 Dynastar Menace 90

There's just something awesome about a fun and forgiving all-mountain twin tip that a lot of skiers really love. From the park and pipe to the bumps and the woods, the Dynastar Menace 90 is one of the more well-rounded twin tips out there at this width, and since it’s available in sizes ranging from 140 to 180 cm breaking on the 10’s, everyone from tween park rats to retirees who just want to slide around will enjoy these skis. Built with a fairly simple poplar wood core, the camber and shape of the ski are what sets it apart and makes it feel and act like a much more energetic ski than its simplicity may let on. With pretty high camber underfoot, and minimal rocker in the tips and tails, these skis are pretty smooth thanks to that longer effective edge and poppy profile. You can really get a good amount of energy out of the turn, allowing more freestyle-oriented skiers the ability to pop off of lips of the jumps and carve into the belly of the bigger kickers in the park. More front-side skiers will enjoy the rebound out of the turn, creating smooth, round, and linked turns that leave fairly deep trenches in the corduroy.

On the 170, Benny Wax liked the length, and had a lot of really high scores to go on his card. All 4’s right down the line, including those for flotation, stability, maneuverability, playfulness, forgiveness, and versatility. Benny’s lone 5 out of 5 was for overall impression, so it’s fair to say that he had a pretty good time on this ski. He falls more into the “retiree” category of skiers that enjoy making lots of clean turns on their way down. While you may not see Benny in the park on the Menace 90, he’ll be the one skiing a clean mogul line down some of Stowe’s steepest trails, and these skis are right in their wheelhouse in that arena. “What a great ski! A solid, traditional, high-performance ski with a little twin-tip action. Easy turn initiation with a smooth finish of each turn. Great all-mountain ski. This is a one-ski-does-it-all (unless you’re racing) type of ski.” I always wonder if Dynastar (or other companies) have skiers like Benny in mind when they come up with a twin-tip like this, or if it’s just a fortunate happenstance of the shape and build that makes these skis so appealing to such a broad audience.

Mike Aidala also skied the 170, but found it to be short—he'd prefer the 180 in this construction. He gave the ski top scores of 4 out of 5 for quickness, maneuverability, and forgiveness. A low score of 2 out of 5 for torsional stiffness and edge hold isn’t that surprising given the flexible nature of the Menace. Mike also skis twin tips as his daily driver here in VT, so it’s nice to get a skier like him on these as well. He notes that “the Menace 90 skis provide the same forgiving, soft-snow performance as its bigger brother Menace 98 ski, but is essentially quicker edge to edge. The cap construction does make it more maneuverable, than the sidewall build of the 98, but it’s still a whole lot of fun.” A bit lighter and quicker than the wider twins, the Menace 90 kind of has to be that way due to the range and availability of lengths.

The 2022 Dynastar Menace 90 checks a lot of boxes for a lot of skiers, whether they know it or not. One of my big pet peeves is when a ski like this goes unnoticed, when in reality, this is a far better option in the 90mm range than a lot of other burlier skis out there, whether you never go in the park, or spend your whole life there.