Freestyle Ski Review

What follows is a review of my favourite park skis that I’ve tested to date. The views presented are entirely my own and are based on my own personal preferences, technique and style. Nothing beats investing in your own pair of new twins, especially if it’s your first, and for this reason I would always recommend spending as much time as possible researching the options in your price range. If you are using the skis entirely for park riding then they will need to be at around nose/eye level, but if you are looking for a ski to use for the whole mountain they will need a little more length for better piste stability, so around forehead height is ideal. Also, if you get an opportunity to try before you buy, this is the absolute best way of deciding if you have picked the right pair of skis to suit you ability and style of skiing. Good luck.

4FRNT
Coming from a rider-owned core brand, the STL is a hugely fun, easy ski that will take you from piste to park and back again without blinking. Its softer wood core and flex pattern in the tip and tail makes jibbing and buttering almost too easy while the reinforcements underfoot ensure stomped landings time after time. Available in various sizes up to 183cm with different colours at each size, this is the ski as used by pro rider Steele Spence. However, if you’re after a ski to shred any terrain in any conditions, then look no further than the amazing MSP. With its increased dimensions and core stiffness throughout, the MSP is geared towards deeper snow and harder, more aggressive riding but is still manageable in the park and feels rock solid on takeoff and landing. The graphics are far cooler as well, with forest and mountain scenes being imaged on the top sheet (depending on what length you have) and slick bases.

K2
Offering one of the widest ranges of twintip on the market, from the soft flexing Silencer up to the massive proportions of the Made’N AK and reverse camber, pow-specific Pontoon, K2 have dominated the freestyle ski market for some time. Its mid-range Public Enemy set the benchmark for twintips when introduced and continues to be one of the most popular and widely used skis on the mountain. The Enemy’s dimensions and flex pattern make it the perfect all-rounder for park, piste and off-piste versatility, while being available in a range of sizes means it will suit almost any rider. Buy them if you want one ski that will do anything, don’t buy them if you want to be an individual on the hill.

Rossignol
Rossi’s Scratch and Scratch BC (standing for Backcountry) are long-standing servers of the twintip audience and continue to be a true, “do-anything” ski. The Scratch is light and well-balanced making it perfect for jumping, jibbing, buttering and greasing rails while being stiff enough for high-speed piste cruising and carving. Another big advantage of the Scratch, and one that is hard to find in other park skis, is its ability to ski switch almost better than it skis forwards, making it ideal for those who are newer to freestyle skiing and still learning the finer points of some of the techniques.

Armada
This established brand was one of the first true rider-owned and run companies listing Tanner Hall as one of its founders. The AR6 is (probably) the ultimate in freestyle tools with awesome graphics provided by artist “Mad Steez”, loads of energy and pop to get airborne, enough width underfoot to stomp landings and be stable when ridden at high speed and tough enough to withstand almost anything you can throw at it. With the wider, softer-flexing ARV and ladies-specific ARW in the range too for big mountain ripping, Armada is THE riders choice – just be ready for onlookers expectations when you rock up on them.