2027 Armada ARW 100

For 2027, the Armada ARW 100 gets a graphic update but returns otherwise unchanged. Maintaining the overall fun-loving personality, the ARW 100 brings a lighthearted, creative approach to the mountain, with strong capabilities in the park, as well as off-piste terrain. With a useful freeride waist width of 100 mm, many will find this ski to serve well as a daily driver, while others may use it as their dedicated park/powder ski. With an impressively wide range of capabilities, this freestyle-inspired, wider-bodied ski offers lively performance, smooth turn initiation, and long-lasting durability for a variety of terrain. It’s fun, drifty, and with some good pop for more energetic skiers. In however many years we've been testing the ARW 100, we've hardly ever gotten any bad feedback—this is a crowd-pleaser for sure.

The construction of the ski balances on a fine line between sturdy and strong as well as light and flexible. Armada continues the use of a full poplar wood core in combination with an ash binding insert; the result is an energetic, smooth feel while maintaining strength and stability underfoot. The snappy yet soft flex pattern and lightweight feel is a salute to the build here, creating the ideal balance for a wide range of skiers. For some looking for stronger carving capabilities, they may find a lack of stiffness. With the big focus being the level of durability in this ski, the w3dgewall technology continues to be the talk of the ARW series, and we’re thanking our lucky stars for its contribution to this model. Rather than your traditional sidewall, this creative approach incorporates the sidewall into the wood core with an angled shape, creating a mechanical bond that is much more durable and drastically increases edge hold. This technology has made significant leaps in the ARW 100s performance, specifically in terms of hitting rails and park features. Tester Steph Lawee says that "The ARW 100 has the perfect balance between stability and float. Its width and tip and tail rocker make it playful and fairly forgiving, but it won’t chatter at high speeds."

Skis in this width, at this shape, make a lot of sense for skiers who mix their terrain and use case situations. This ski uses a fun and fancy footprint for blending freestyle, freeride, and all-mountain use. The more modern shape for a park ski and the long rocker profile in both the tips and tails is combined with early taper and decent camber underfoot. This gives the ski an agile yet forgiving feel, which is ideal for bumps, trees and park. The camber provides on-piste grip and a nice springy feel for airtime. At 100 mm underfoot, it is rounded out by 126 mm tips and 119 mm tails in the 172 cm length, giving the shovel a rounded, spoony shape and allowing for smooth, effortless turn initiation. With a turn radius of 17.5, it definitely likes to make slashy, smeary turns but thanks to its lightweight nature, it has no problem making shorter, skidded turns. Given both the shape and build, it’s safe to say the ARW 100’s shine off-piste and in soft snow conditions. Steph continues, noting that "I preferred this ski to the ARW 94, which felt a little too stiff for its width. The ARW 100 felt slightly softer and more forgiving. This ski is perfect for powder days, all mountain variable terrain, and jumps in the park or in the backcountry."

The overall style of this ski leads to a high level of skier satisfaction. It’s not demanding, but it does have a higher end feel and character. While aggressive carvers and frontside skiers may not find all the joy in this ski, those who don’t like to push it too hard and who prefer finding side hits and slashing bumps will enjoy the wider waist width, energetic nature and level of durability. By mixing trees and powder with bumps and park, the ARW 100 is a freeride-focused toy that brings a lot of smiles to a lot of skiers.