Narrow waist. Oversize tip. Slight rocker. Pintail. We've seen them before, just never on the same ski. The sum of these parts? Salomon's BBR 8.9 is intended to do it all: carve groomers, float in powder, and be playful on everything in between. The most surprising thing about the BBR, which was inspired by the shape of water skis and designed by Bertrand Krafft—the same guy behind Salomon's popular X Scream series and its classic Pocket Rockets—is how well it succeeds. While some experts might want more tail (to finish turns strongly), and the narrow-waist and wide-tip combo can get grabby at higher speeds in crud, many intermediate and advanced skiers will find that it lives up to the hype. The slight rocker makes turn initiation automatic. It's just as happy making short turns as big sweepers. And the extra-wide tip and narrower tail make it, as one tester put it, "without a doubt one of the best powder skis I've ever tested." 147/88/110
Photographer: Courtesy of Salomon
