Ski: Atomic Beta Race
When the first generation of deep-sidecut skis came out about five years ago, they offered a study in sidecut geometry gone horribly awry. Intended to mimic the carving properties of alpine race snowboards, these skis featured tips at well over 105 millimeters wide, waists pinched to a svelte 58, and robust tails that flared out even wider than the tips. These wasp-waisted skis constantly initiated turns, resulting in a squirreling effect akin to riding a bike with two warped rims. Racers, who judge ski performance in milliseconds, never bought in, and instead tweaked sidecuts by small increments. In this case, we can trust their judgement—even if they do wear rubber suits. The beauty of carving on hard snow, after all, is feeling your edges bite without slowing, and then riding the turn acceleration up, over, and down the hill—just what Hermann Maier does on the racecourse.

No ski will get you closer to this moment of boilerplate enlightenment than the Beta Race 10.22. Forget for a moment that Atomic nailed the geometry—in the last two years, so have quite a few other companies. What sets this ski apart is how it's built. The Beta's B-shaped cross-section eliminates unwanted material from the center of the ski, making it lighter while increasing torsional rigidity—and torsional rigidity, the ability to hold an edge in hard snow instead of twisting along its length and washing out, is the race-geek's Holy Grail. A ski this light with such forgiving flex would normally chatter out at the apex of a turn. On the Beta it feels like you're riding on rails.

Board: Völkl Renntiger GS

Gerald Bybee/SF

So where should you look for a board designed to carve ice? California, where the snow is always soft? Or Germany, where, if the snow isn't hard enough, they hose it down and let it freeze overnight? The latter, of course, and specifically, the Völkl Renntiger GS. The Renntiger is a production board that has found the balance between old-school "Euro-carve" boards—nice for laydown turns on soft groomed snow, but too flimsy for serious hardpack—and American custom-made race boards that were so stiff and long that all but the strongest few found themselves chasing them downhill. Völkl, with its long history of premium ski construction, knows that if you can't flex it, you can't turn it: So the Renntiger has a balanced flex from tip to tail for a smooth, round turn. As with Völkl's high-end skis, the camber (the bow shape) is milled directly out of the Renntiger's poplar core. (Most other manufacturers create camber by placing a flat wood laminate into a mold that bends it, a technique that results in a flat, dead ride after a few seasons.) The result is a punchy rebound that lasts for years. To minimize vibration, the Renntiger's poplar core—again, just likeVölkl's high-end race skis—is sandwiched between two sheets of shock-absorbing titanium. With its 19-centimeter waist, the Renntiger is wide enough to accommodate flatter stances and bigger feet—a break from the mid-nineties skinny-board trend. Perfect for tongue-drag laydown turns.