2027 Black Crows Atris

The 2027 Black Crows Atris gets a graphic refresh but returns otherwise unchanged. The Atris relies on traditional freeride shaping and construction to emphasize fun and creativity. With a twin tip style and a more directional shape, these skis mix flotation, mobility, and smoothness with ease. Atris goes to show that you don’t need crazy tech in the construction in order to make a clean, well-performing freeride ski. While the 105 mm waist makes more sense in softer snow, there’s at least a bit of versatility here as the ski is fun to get up on edge and run through some longer and faster turns.

Built with a poplar core, the Atris doesn’t need fancy stuff to create success and happiness. All it really relies on is innovative shaping. The ski has a somewhat stiffer flex, especially underfoot, but for the most part, the tips and tails are amenable to bending and flexing to provide both support and suspension. The 184 cm length almost hits 2000 grams, which is right in the sweet spot for mixed use applications. Tester Marcus Shakun notes: “Always a favorite. It has such a smooth but energetic feel and has no problem adapting to the terrain or skiing style. Was able to lay it over very easy on edge and let the ski flex into the turn with as it loaded up or just dump speed and smear a turn in between. It has the energy build/ as you drive it into a turn with a bit of spring out of the turn and very smooth. Very reliable at speed and on edge on the harder snow surface. Wild that it can bite down an edge on hard glare ice or dig into the softer groomed snow and transition with confidence and seamlessness. It really performedd great on the groomer, but this wants to be in the soft snow or off piste. I have skied it in the woods and in softer snow conditions, and it has no problem dipping and diving on and out of turns while powering down the fall line.”

The shaping is the bigger part of the story here, as it is with most of Black Crows skis. The 105 mm waist teeters on the edge of being wide for all-mountain yet narrow for freeride or powder, making the mix of applications one of the highlights here. That 184 also creates a 20-meter turn radius, although many skiers find that it feels longer and the ski also feels wider. Another aspect of the Atris that stands out is its –8cm mount point, putting this creative shape in more of a directional stance. That leads to its smoothness on groomers and its easy flotation in deeper snow. Tester Kyle Phillips humbly states: “I lacked the confidence on this to lay down big carves. It would do it and held but it didn’t have the confidence I wanted. This is an all mountain ski, but really needs soft snow. This is a pretty accessible ski for intermediates on up. For the advanced and experts don’t fear sizing up. A fun ski but lacked the confidence on really hard snow.” That’s not surprising that hard snow would make for a more difficult time, Atris is certainly better suited to the deeper and softer surfaces.

This is an interesting ski to sort out since it could easily be one skier’s favorite and only ski, yet others would find no use for it whatsoever. Some skiers really enjoy the smoothness and predictability while others would like their mid-100's skis to have more power and damping. Either way, the Atris is a ski that seeks out fun and adventure. You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy it, but if you are, size up.