If you’re looking for one of the quickest, fastest, and most precise carving skis in the world, you’ve found it. In a world of somewhat homogenized consumer race/high end carving skis, the Redster X9S is actually quite unique. It’s narrower than just about anything else you’re going to find with its 65.5 m waist width and utilizes a turn radius that’s basically right between a SL and GS cut. The result is lightning-fast transitions in between in turn, seemingly endless torsional stiffness and edge grip, and an extremely rewarding experience when ripping turns on firm snow. Just don’t take it into the soft stuff. Definitely don’t take it into powder and even on a softer groomer, it demands some care and proper weighting in order to not dig the tip and forebody of the ski too deeply into the softly tilled snow. On firm snow, however, there aren’t many skis, if any skis, that can achieve this level of precision, responsiveness, and overall experience.

In order to achieve such precision, Atomic uses very high end materials in the Redster X9s. In fact, there aren’t many differences between the construction in this ski and what you’d see in full World Cup models. We get an Ultra Power Woodcore, one of the densest, stiffest, most powerful cores you see from Atomic. Then we get layers of Titanal for further power and better vibration damping, which is enhanced by Revoshock S, the same damping system used on their highest level race skis. A World Cup base finish rounds out this ski’s construction and the result is incredible. Fast, quick, and strong, particularly in its torsional stiffness and how well it can hold an edge.

Shape is what you’d expect from such a narrow, carving-focused ski. Although, the Redster X9s is so narrow, it’s actually somewhat unique. 65.5 mm underfoot is just about the narrowest ski you’ll find these days, unless we’re talking nordic race skis. That’s where the quickness of this ski really comes from. Going from edge to edge on the Redster X9s feels like it happens instantaneously. That really makes those firm frontside conditions super fun, but also where the ski’s limitations come into play. That waist width will get bogged down relatively easily in softer snow conditions, and you could potentially boot out more easily than on a wider platform. Because of that, we really think it’s best to keep the Redster X9s on true firm conditions as just a bit of soft snow can result in some challenging skiing and potential crashes. Unsurprisingly, the ski is 100% camber, which is where all its responsiveness is coming from. With a stiff flex, the narrow waist, and all that camber, the ski reacts to skier input immediately, giving you complete control over your turns. For technical skiers at a strong ability level, they are so much fun and so rewarding to ski. For an intermediate or anyone who’s still working on building good technique, however, it can be a bit much.

Is the Redster X9s a relatively one-dimensional ski? I would say yes, but not in a bad way. It’s intended and designed to do one specific thing, make dynamic carving turns on firm snow, and it does that one thing exceptionally well. It’s even emerged as one of their favorite skis for some of our more technical testers, generally those with a substantial race background. Interestingly, it’s kind of one of those skis where if you have to ask whether it’s right for you, it probably isn’t. Those seeking out premium carving performance know what to look for, and this is what those skiers are looking for. Still, we encourage you to check out some of the responses of our testers below. If you’re on the fence about it, maybe they can help sway you one way or the other.