Ladies who love to spend all of their time on firm snow and in a round and beautiful turn will love this ski. Narrow, agile, and incredibly precise, the 2024 Dynastar E Lite 9 is poised and ready to carve clean and deep turns in the hard pack. With a graphics update for this upcoming season, the E Lite 9 is a race-oriented carver that holds tight to any type of firm snow with grace and balance. Skiers of the advanced and expert range will love the crisp carving ability of this ski, while those progressing to hit those levels may find it a bit twitchy and demanding. That’s the double-edged sword with thinner skis like this—you want them narrow so that they have incredible torsional stiffness, but that lack of platform can affect balance and engagement. As such, this E Lite 9 is a tricky one for those who don’t have the skills necessary to drive this narrower option. That said, for skiers who are looking for the utmost in precision, power, and energy, the 2024 Dynastar E Lite 9 is one of the best choices out there.

Dynastar has been experimenting with their hybrid cores over the past few years, and we feel that they’re incredibly interesting and successful. By increasing the amount of polyurethane into the sides of the skis, they’re creating a smooth and quiet overall feel without jeopardizing the performance or energy. In fact, the PU material gives the ski a unique feel that is both damp and responsive—two attributes that don’t normally go together. In the central spine of the ski, Dynastar uses poplar wood in a bi-directional format to add stiffness to the mix. All they’re really doing here is alternating the grain of the wood to create a more cohesive unit of material. They’re not adding anything to the mix, so this technique isn’t adding weight. Pretty smart way to boost the performance, if you ask us. We then get a full titanal layer to dampen and strengthen the ski with the V-Tech's 3-dimensional material keeping the sides of the ski firmly planted on the snow. In the 160, this produces a weight of 1700 grams per ski without the binding or plate.

The E Lite 9 uses a narrow waist and overall shape to generate power and precision. At 68 mm underfoot, this ski is approaching race widths and this makes the ski insanely quick and grippy. The torsional stiffness is boosted as a result, and the ski ends up producing a 12-meter turn radius in the 160 cm length. This is approaching a slalom cut, so skiers who are looking to link short, energetic, and rhythmic turns down the fall line will certainly appreciate this overall shape. With a ski like this, there’s little to no rocker, as the cambered profile adds to the energy and dynamic character. As a result, this ski is fairly one-dimensional, but in that dimension, it’s fantastic. They’re claiming some tip rocker, but if it’s there, it’s really only for turn initiation’s sake rather than any type of versatility.

As one of the more front-side focused skis of the test, the 2024 Dynastar E Lite 9 has a whole lot to offer the right skier. While most will be somewhat over their heads when it comes to accessing the performance of this one, those that have the skillset and experience will absolutely love the power, precision, agility, and responsiveness of the 9. Adding to the overall deal, the E Lite 9 comes with a Konect binding system that works great with these skis. The stand height is ample, allowing for higher edge angles and more leverage when carving turns. Built for experts and racers, this front side ski is an extraordinary blend of performance and technology.