A new wide bodied twin tip in a lightweight version, Ferox is henceforth the widest ski in the Freebird range (110 versus 109 for the Corvus Freebird). But beyond this small millimeter, it is the sudden entrance of a new wide ski with double tips characteristics in the touring range that arouses curiosity. Julien Regnier for the technical part and Bruno Compagnet for experience, enlighten us on the intention and action.
Layla Jean Kerley
Black Crows : Julien, why are skis such as these in the new collection ? Why abandon the Anima
Freebird and bring out the Ferox ?
Julien : These are skis destined for powder which give a taste of a double tip to the touring range. Wide and “bidirectional” for going skiing powder, they hold the edges a lot better than the old model the Anima Freebird. They perform much better on the hard even though they are still a powder ski.
They are also skis which I find good-looking. It is truly subjective, but these skis have an aesthetic which I find interesting, especially since this design was born from technical research. We worked the top-sheet (upper surface, Ed.) in 3D in order to take into account all the force constraints on the edges. The skis are profiled to remove weight while keeping the energy transmission. With this three-dimensional carbon construction, they acquire rigidity without this affecting their flexibility. So you get a good balance with very playful but solid skis under the foot. And although they’re double-tipped, they’re not skis for backcountry freestyle. They’re really skis for playing with the relief but solid on their edges, like a kind of Atris for touring.
Layla Jean Kerley
Black Crows : And you Bruno who has skied a lot, what do you think about these new planks ?
Bruno : They are modern playful skis. They are twin tipped (twin-tip, double tipped, Ed.) which behave more like alpine skis than the Corvus Freebird which I have skied with for years. Yet, I adapted to them very quickly, and last year, I mainly skied with them. True, I’m lucky enough to be able to move around to find the right conditions, but they’re skis with which I don’t mind skiing the hard if necessary and their width and lightness coupled to the high heels are really agreeable. They are easy to handle and they have naturally become my everyday ski because they can do everything and are a real treat in powder or on spring snow.
Layla Jean Kerley
If I take last season and notably the big conditions that we went to find in Austria, I used either the Nocta, or the Ferox. And even if the conditions tempted me to take the Nocta, I often took the Ferox, notably on days when the visibility wasn’t good and we skied in the trees. Importantly their light weight has to be taken in to account because when you do eight descents in a row, it is good to have skis which are easy to move and to carry. For old guys like me, it makes a difference. So I am very satisfied because they are super skiable, they behave well on hard snow and are super manoeuvrable.
