On-trail ladies who are looking for a solid platform for groomer skiing will love this setup. These crisply turning skis get a facelift for 2024 but remain the same wider-bodied carving ski that’s flown under the radar over the past few seasons. The 2024 Dynastar E Lite 8 maintains its mid-70's underfoot width, its strong and stable build, and its familiar radius to propel it into the next winter. For most skiers, most of our time is spent on groomed terrain, so it makes perfect sense to have a ski that excels in that zone. Sure, you’re going to miss out on the snowier days, but that’s a great reason to get multiple pairs of skis. This one falls into the front side category for sure, and while there’s minimal versatility going on here, it definitely has a huge upside when it comes to carving clean, round, and dynamic turns across the fall line. Ideally suited for advanced and expert skiers who are comfortable on a high-performance ski, the 2024 Dynastar E Lite 8 is a fun-loving carver that can hang with the best of them.

As an on-trail ski, it makes a lot of sense that the build is on the sophisticated side of the spectrum. Dynastar has played around with the use of polyurethane in ski construction for a few years now, and it seems to work quite well. In the E Lite 8, they use a hybrid core consisting of poplar wood stringers in the central portion with PU on the outside. Basically, they’re building the sidewalls further into the ski to produce a smooth and quiet personality. The poplar cores stringers are alternated in a bi-directional format placing the grain at opposing ends, creating a stiffer ski without adding more or different materials. This is a smart way to boost the performance of the ski in a structural way rather than a technological one. We also get a titanal reinforcement that keeps the ski strong and stable throughout. On top of the core, Dynastar uses their V-Tech to keep the sides of the ski firmly planted on the snow while leaving the central portion of the ski more maneuverable. This all leads to a weight of 1850 grams per ski in the 158, which is right on par for what we’re looking for in a front side ski.

At 75 mm underfoot, this ski fits squarely into the front side category. There’s minimal taper and rocker, resulting in a longer effective edge that retains the smoothness and poppy nature of the ski. By building energy into the camber of the ski, we’re getting tremendous rebound from turn to turn. The 158 produces a 12-meter turn radius which fits right in with the waist width and the intended purpose of this ski. In the tail of the ski, not only is the shape squared off from a taper perspective, but it also hollows in to create a mini-swallow tail. The effect that this creates is to elongate the edge in the tail and create a more energetic finish to the turn without it being too demanding. This aligns with the intended audience of the ski as well as the creative nature in which this ski was built.

By adding a Konect binding system to the mix, advanced and expert skiers who spend most of their time in a carved turn and in an on-piste format will get a great setup and a high-performance ceiling. There’s no real reason for these skis to fly under the radar—they have a sophisticated build, a wide range of sizing options, a great system binding, and a strong and stable base. Skiers who are looking for a front side ski should definitely keep this one on the list for pure on-trail carving performance.