Ski: 2023-2024 Armada ARV 116 JJ UL, 185 cm
Test Location: Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Colorado; Hokkaido, Japan
Days Skied: 9
Available Lengths: 165, 175, 185, 192 cm
Blister’s Measured Tip-to-Tail Length (straight-tape pull): 183.5 cm
Stated Weight per Ski: 1700 grams
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski: 1835 & 1820 grams
Stated Dimensions: 139-116-135 mm
Blister’s Measured Dimensions: 139-116-134 mm
Stated Sidecut Radius (185 cm): 18 meters
Measured Tip & Tail Splay (ski decambered): 71 mm / 64 mm
Measured Traditional Camber Underfoot: 6 mm
Core Materials: caruba + fiberglass laminate
Base: sintered “S7” base
Factory Recommended Mount Point: -5 cm from center; 87 cm from tail
Boots / Bindings: Tecnica Cochise Pro W; Fischer RC4 105 MV BOA & buckle; Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 130 BOA / Armada Shift MNC 13
[Note: Our review was conducted on the 22/23 ARV 116 JJ UL, which returns unchanged for 23/24.]
Intro
Armada has long been known for their ARV and JJ series of skis. A few years back, these merged into the ARV 116 JJ — a freestyle-oriented ski with some big mountain and powder capabilities. In the following years, Armada introduced their “Zero” line of skis, which feature some more out-there constructions, shapes, and builds, which they reportedly design with their athlete team and market as “limited edition.” The ARV 116 JJ UL is a part of this series, with the “UL” indicating the use of their ultralight construction.
We have now had multiple reviewers spend a good bit of time on it this winter, from the backcountry in Hokkaido, Japan, to inbounds laps at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, and we’re ready to chime in. But first, let’s take a look at this ski’s design.
What Armada says about the ARV 116 JJ UL
“Bringing light to new heights, the ARV 116 JJ UL floats like a butterfly and cuts like a butter knife for a definitive BC freestyle experience. The JJ UL is 25% lighter than the original JJ and has been a team favorite since its inception. With less weight through the tip and tail, the JJ UL utilizes our lightest Caruba Core to create a uniquely lightweight and smooth ride when the going gets deep. Powder hounds, this ski will move fast off the shelves. Act fast, and put this limited edition JJ on your feet.”
Construction
Armada’s ARV 116 JJ UL is built with their “Ultralight Construction.” Primarily, this means it features a caruba core, a fiberglass laminate, and a bit of metal around the binding area for screw retention. It also uses a 1.7 mm steel edge, which is thinner than those featured on most of Armada’s inbounds-oriented skis.
The ARV 116 JJ UL also features Armada’s “Smear Tech,” which basically means that the area around the edges at the ends of the rockered tips and tails is convex, with the goal of creating a more maneuverable, surfy feel in soft snow as well as making butters easier. On the ARV 116 JJ UL, the steel edges of the ski end just before the beveled Smear Tech zones.
Shape / Rocker Profile
The ARV 116 JJ UL shares the same shape and rocker profile as the standard ARV 116 JJ, with a notable amount of early tapering at the tips and tails, and pretty deep, nearly symmetrical tip and tail rocker lines. That said, there’s still a good bit of camber in the middle of the ski.
Flex Pattern
Here’s how we’d characterize the flex pattern of the ARV 116 JJ UL:
Tips: 4.5-5
Shovels: 5-6
In Front of Toe Piece: 6-9.5
Underfoot: 10
Behind the Heel Piece: 10-9.5
Tails: 9-5
Hand flexing this ski, there’s a drastic difference between the parts of the ski with sidewall (most of the cambered portion) and the extremities of this ski without sidewall (most of the rockered portions). It’s very stiff around the middle and stays stiff notably longer in the back versus the front, but it is extremely soft at its ends — in fact, at its extremities, it’s one of the softest skis we’ve flexed.
Sidecut Radius
At 18 meters for the 185 cm length, the ARV 116 JJ UL’s stated sidecut radius is pretty average for a playful powder ski, if not slightly on the tighter end of the spectrum.
Mount Point
The ARV 116 JJ UL features two mount points. The “Factory Recommended” mount point is -5 cm from center, whereas the “Freestyle Recommended” mount point is -2.5 cm from center. Compared to the general pow-ski category, both of the ARV 116 JJ UL’s mount points are pretty close to the center of the ski. We decided to mount on the “Factory Recommended” line for our review.
Weight
As expected, and as we would hope for a ski with “ultralight” in its name, the the ARV 116 JJ UL falls on the lighter end of skis in its class, coming in at about 1830 grams per ski for the 185 cm length.
For reference, here are our measured weights for some notable skis. Keep in mind the length differences to try to keep things apples to apples.
1710 & 1744 Atomic Bent Chetler 120, 184 cm (18/19–22/23)
1808 & 1809 Line Pescado, 180 cm (16/17–22/23)
1833 & 1894 Head Kore 111, 184 cm (22/23)
1835 & 1820 ARV 116 JJ UL, 185 cm (22/23)
1836 & 1838 Armada ARW 106 UL, 180 cm (21/22-22/23)
1860 & 1862 Majesty Vadera Ti, 176 cm (22/23)
1863 & 1872 Atomic Bent 110, 188 cm (22/23)
1867 & 1890 K2 Mindbender 115C, 179 cm (21/22-22/23)
1873 & 1878 Line Vision 118, 183 cm (20/21–22/23)
1878 & 1891 Salomon QST Stella 106, 173 cm (22/23-23/24)
1870 & 1895 Faction La Machine Max, 186 cm (20/21–22/23)
1885 & 1914 Moment Wildcat Tour, 190 cm (21/22-22/23)
1897 & 1913 Majesty Vanguard, 188 cm (20/21)
1895 & 1906 Folsom Trophy Carbon, 188 cm (18/19–22/23)
1910 & 1941 Scott Scrapper 115, 189 cm (17/18–20/21)
1921 & 1927 Fat-ypus D-Sender, 184 cm (20/21-22/23)
2006 & 2063 Elan Ripstick 116, 193 cm (20/21–22/23)
2013 & 2099 Moment Wildcat, 184 cm (18/19–19/20)
2019 & 2051 K2 Mindbender 116C, 186 cm (19/20–22/23)
2024 & 2031 Line Outline, 186 cm (19/20–22/23)
2034 & 2052 Blizzard Rustler 11, 188 cm (17/18–21/22)
2043 & 2046 4FRNT Inthayne, 188 cm (18/19–22/23)
2060 & 2075 4FRNT Hoji, 184 cm (21/22-22/23)
2062 & 2080 Whitedot Ragnarok ASYM, 190 cm (19/20–21/22)
2081 & 2115 Faction Candide 5.0, 183 cm (18/19–21/22)
2083 & 2137 Blizzard Hustle 11, 188 cm (22/23)
2105 & 2185 Head Kore 117, 189 cm (19/20–20/21)
2125 & 2134 Kye Shapes Metamorph, 185 cm (19/20–21/22)
2136 & 2174 K2 Reckoner 122, 184 cm (20/21–22/23)
2149 & 2158 DPS Alchemist Lotus 124, 191 cm (17/18–20/21)
2163 & 2166 Moment Wildcat, 184 cm (20/21-22/23)
2173 & 2204 4FRNT Renegade, 191 cm (19/20–22/23)
2174 & 2187 Moment Wildcat, 190 cm (18/19–19/20)
2196 & 2211 Rossignol Sender Free 110, 184 cm (23/24)
2212 & 2215 Armada ARV 116 JJ, 185 cm (17/18–22/23)
2222 & 2278 Prior CBC, 184 cm (17/18–22/23)
2237 & 2315 Salomon QST 118, 192 cm (19/20–20/21)
2240 & 2250 Volkl Revolt 121, 184 cm (19/20–22/23)
2250 & 2280 Movement Fly Two 115, 184 cm (19/20–21/22)
2259 & 2279 Black Crows Anima, 189.2 cm (20/21–22/23)
2280 & 2286 Icelantic Nomad 115, 191 cm (19/20–22/23)
2318 & 2322 Line Blade Optic 114, 186 cm (22/23)
2328 & 2370 Rossignol Sender Free 110, 191 cm (23/24)
2329 & 2344 Blizzard Spur, 189 cm (20/21–21/22)
2341 & 2357 Dynastar M-Free 118, 189 cm (18/19–22/23)
2343 & 2360 J Skis Friend, 189 cm (19/20–21/22)
2346 & 2351 Nordica Enforcer 115 Free, 191 cm (17/18–22/23)
2416 & 2468 Liberty Genome, 187 cm (17/18–20/21)
2438 & 2480 DPS Foundation Koala 119, 189 cm (19/20–20/21)
2438 & 2492 Rossignol BLACKOPS 118, 186 cm (16/17–22/23)
2561 & 2585 Kye Shapes Numinous, 189 cm (19/20–21/22)
2700 & 2703 Armada ARG II, 187 cm (19/20–21/22)
Now, onto how all of this translates on snow:
FULL REVIEW
Powder
Kara Williard (5’9”, 167 lbs / 175 cm, 75.7 kg): This year, I was fortunate enough to go to Hokkaido, Japan for a couple of weeks to do some inbounds and backcountry skiing. With a trip to Japan, there is no better time to opt for a more playful powder ski than I might choose here at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. After weighing some options, I decided to bring along the Armada ARV 116 JJ UL, knowing that there would be a fair bit of powder, a good amount of touring (so I wanted something light-ish), and I also found the trip to be a good excuse to opt for a ski outside of what I would typically use for daily skiing back at home.
Powder was the main application I had in mind when I decided to bring the ARV 116 JJ UL to Japan. While we didn’t experience the absolute deepest powder days while I was there, it was still consistently soft and untracked every single day. And thankfully, the ARV 116 JJ UL does a great job in deep snow.
It is easy to smear and slarve into tight turns, offered plenty of flotation for the conditions I got it in, and is highly maneuverable in tight spaces and in even the deepest powder I’ve found. But because Japan’s pow is famously light, I was curious how some of the characteristics of the ARV 116 JJ UL would translate to heavier or choppier snow.
Dylan Wood (5’10.5”, 155 lbs / 179 cm, 70 kg): I got limited time on the ARV 116 JJ UL in true untracked powder, but in that time, I found it to offer great flotation and maneuverability, as Kara mentioned.
Its soft shovels very easily bend and plane above the snow surface, and this ski is also super easy to flick, pivot, and drift around in powder. I will say that I think the ARV 116 JJ UL performs best with a more centered stance in powder, since its soft extremities don’t offer a ton of support.
Because of how soft this ski’s tips and shovels are (and its fairly tight sidecut radius), I was worried about it feeling “hooky” in powder when trying to make an aggressive turn at a high edge angle. But on snow, I never felt this sensation, both when making more carved turns through pow as well as just sliding and drifting around.
This ski’s willingness to bend in powder also created a dynamic feel. It can be loaded up in one turn and then released into the next with some energy. Add its low weight to the equation, and this is a ski that loves to get airborne and be flicked around in soft snow.
Soft Chop
Kara: When we had a relatively shallow powder day here at Crested Butte, I was eager to compare my experience with this ski in Japan to a day at my home mountain, especially knowing that temperatures (and the snow) were quickly warming. And in shallower and/or heavier powder, the ARV 116 JJ UL got knocked around a bit. In soft / low-density chop, the ARV 116 JJ UL fairs alright. But in denser and more variable conditions, I found myself skiing more slowly and conservatively as a means of preventing the ARV 116 JJ UL from deflecting, especially at higher speeds.
The exceptional maneuverability of the ARV 116 JJ UL makes it easy to make controlled and quick turns, and it certainly offers the flotation to stay atop even denser snow, but it isn’t a very stable ski by any means, and its suspension is a bit limited (more on that below).
Dylan: One of my main takeaways with the ARV 116 JJ UL is that the rougher and more inconsistent the snow is, the worse this ski performs. Get it in some clean powder or even just soft, consistent conditions, and it performs quite well, but in soft chop, I definitely agree with Kara that this ski isn’t very inherently composed.
If you’re looking to charge hard through deep, set-up chop, this is far from the best ski for you. Stiffer and/or heavier options (such as the standard ARV 116 JJ) fair much better in these conditions. But, if you’re willing to ski slowly and take a more precise approach to chop, rather than just plowing right through it, the ultra-maneuverable ARV 116 JJ UL is very easy to move around underneath you.
Firm Chop / Crud
Kara: In firmer chop and crud, the ARV 116 JJ UL remains nimble and maneuverable, which is its best feature, but it otherwise does not provide much stability and tends to get knocked around quite a bit. While it feels fairly stable underfoot, its extremities tend to deflect in firmer crud and the ARV 116 JJ UL doesn’t have the weight to really provide any sort of suspension in rough conditions.
While this was hardly a problem in Japan, there were still a couple of days with some variability to the snow where I could have benefitted from a bit more stability. While I think it was still pretty justified to bring a ski on the lighter and more playful side of the spectrum, given the generally soft and consistent snow we were skiing, there were a couple of moments that I wished for a bit more of a planted ride. The maneuverability of the ARV 116 JJ UL is an asset in these conditions because the ski can easily be finessed and slowed down, which is basically a requirement, given its lack of stability in rough snow.
It’s also worth noting that, while this ski’s tail is highly forgiving and loose enough to slash and spray up tons of snow with ease, it also does not provide much support. This has been most apparent on (1) firm snow, (2) when encountering large compressions (of which there are many in Japan), and (3) anytime I found myself backseat or slightly off-balance. While it’s not the same type of punishment that occurs when getting backseat on a ski with a stiff tail, I did find the tail prone to washing out, which can result in a different type of losing control. I managed this by opting to hit compressions with very little speed, but if I found myself with a little too much speed or off-balance positioning coming into a compression… let’s just say, there were some mishaps.
Dylan: I totally agree. Firm, variable chop and crud is this ski’s biggest weakness. It’s not a ski that encourages fast, aggressive skiing in these conditions. But, keep the speed low and stay over the center of it, and this ski will do just fine in helping you get elsewhere to (hopefully) better snow.
Moguls, Trees, & Tight Terrain
Kara: In moguls and tight terrain the ARV 116 JJ UL is a loose, playful, and maneuverable ski that lends itself to quick and tight turns with ease. In particular, its low swing weight and rockered tips and tails make for very nimble and surfy skiing in tight terrain, despite being pretty wide underfoot.
In some of the tighter and more consequential zones at Mt. Crested Butte, I found it comforting in terms of how easy it was to make tight and exact turns, and it also felt pretty reasonable to hop turn, given its very low swing weight.
The ARV 116 JJ UL feels better when this type of terrain is erring on the side of softer snow conditions, though it still provides a pretty supportive and stable platform underfoot, so it feels maneuverable in both ends of the condition spectrum, provided you stay centered and leverage its stiffer cambered midsection when the snow is firm.
Dylan: Definitely. This ski truly shines in tight terrain. It’s maneuverable in every aspect — it’s light and easy to flick around, very loose and easy to pivot, and easy to engage on edge by carving or slarving a turn in tight terrain. Still, this ski requires that you keep your weight mostly concentrated over the center of it. Making a backseat turn in tight terrain easily results in the tails washing out, and if you try to drive its shovels through bumps, you won’t find much support there.
Uphill Performance
Kara: I knew that I wanted a wide ski to take to Japan, but I also didn’t want a ski that would feel unmanageable on the skin track. The ARV 116 JJ UL seemed like a reasonable choice, given that it’s not absurdly wide and still offered a fairly long effective edge by pow-ski standards. Thankfully, my inclination was correct, and the ARV 116 JJ UL was a pretty solid ski when it came to going uphill.
While my entire setup for the trip was pretty heavy, it wasn’t unmanageable; the ~1830 g skis + an Armada Shift MNC binding came in around ~2710 per ski. The swing weight of this ski when making kick turns is quite balanced, and it provides enough edge hold on the skin track, even on some wind-scoured sections. It’s by no means the lightest setup I could have chosen, but it proved to be reasonable on the skin track while still providing some of the other features I was looking for elsewhere.
Dylan: I have only about ~15 minutes of uphill time on this ski, but in that time, I was quite pleased. It’s light enough to not feel very burdensome as you drag it uphill, and it has enough camber and effective edge that steep, icy sections were not a problem (I used Pomoca Climb 2.0 skins). I think that anyone who gets this ski should strongly consider equipping it with a binding that grants you the ability to drag it uphill.
Mount Point
Kara: Mounted on the “Factory Recommended” line (-5 cm from true center), the ARV 116 JJ UL has responded best when I give up my tendencies to ski in a forward, directional stance and instead ski with a more centered stance and a bit more finesse. Doing this, the ARV 116 JJ UL has felt both very intuitive and forgiving.
When attempting to drive the shovels with too much forward pressure, the front of the ski feels a bit soft and short, leading to a less precise and predictable feel. This mostly comes down to personal skiing style, and it’s been a good challenge to adopt a slightly more centered and relaxed skiing style, especially in playful terrain and forgiving snow. At -5 cm from center, the ARV 116 JJ UL’s “Factory Recommended” mount point is a bit closer to the center than I am used to, so this required a bit of a learning curve.
Dylan: Yep, Kara is right. Being a more playful skier with a more centered stance myself, I found the ARV 116 JJ UL’s “Factory Recommended” mount point intuitive right off the bat. I don’t think mounting farther back would make this ski much more suitable to a directional skier, either — it’s simply not what it is designed for. But a more playful skier looking for maximum balance in the air and/or great switch skiing performance could certainly benefit from mounting on the more forward “Freestyle Recommended” line.
Playfulness
Dylan: Speaking of freestyle, the ARV 116 JJ UL is one of the most playful powder skis I’ve ever experienced. As with maneuverability, this ski is playful in every sense of the word; it’s balanced and light in the air, very easy to surf and slash around on, and has some nice pop to it. It also has lots of tail splay and rocker, and skis switch really well, even in soft snow.
Its soft extremities are very easy to bend and butter, and its stiffer platform underfoot also helps in these scenarios. I found this ski very easy to butter and press, but once you bend it enough to engage its stiffer flex pattern underfoot, it provides the support and rebound you need to either get airborne or just recover back into an upright stance.
This ski is very fun and easy to throw tricks on. It doesn’t provide the most supportive landing platform, though; backseat and/or very frontseat landings can be hard to recover from. But if you put your trick mostly to your feet, its stiff platform underfoot will let you ride away clean.
Length
Kara: Length-wise, the 185 cm ARV 116 JJ UL has been perfect in terms of flotation, while still optimizing maneuverability. This ski has pretty deep rocker lines, is quite light, very soft at the ends, and it’s built with metal edges that only run about 70% of the ski, with the remainder of the tips and tails being beveled / convex — all things that definitely make it ski on the shorter end of things.
It’s an easy and accessible ski in most applications. So while 185 cm is pushing the upper limit of lengths that I like to ski (I tend to prefer lengths from 170-185 cm, depending on the ski), spending time on the 185 cm ARV 116 JJ UL has made tons of sense.
It never once has felt long or unmanageable in tight terrain, and it offers plenty of flotation. I also imagine I am benefiting from a little more stability from this longer length, despite the 185 cm version still not being particularly stable overall.
Dylan: Kara and I are usually skiing pretty different lengths of skis, but sometimes we’ll overlap and both enjoy the same ski. This is one of those cases. Given how inherently maneuverable and playful this ski is, I was quite happy with the 185 cm length. I’m confident that I’d also like the 192 cm length if I were after more flotation, and that ski would likely have a bigger sweet spot, too. But I don’t think sizing up on this ski would make it dramatically more stable or damp.
Who’s It For?
Kara: The ARV 116 JJ UL can make sense for a couple different types of skiers. As you have seen, here, even a directional skier who is just looking for a super playful and fun powder ski that is also reasonably lightweight for backcountry skiing can get along with the ARV 116 JJ UL. This isn’t your best bet if you’re after a pow ski that’s highly versatile or super stable, but it is plenty of fun in deeper snow and encourages a very playful, dynamic skiing style. It is a forgiving ski built for forgiving conditions.
A more freestyle-oriented skier who is capable of getting the ski off the ground and really utilizing the playful characteristics of the ski will get even more out of it. The ARV 116 JJ UL is a great option for someone who is fortunate enough to ski a ton of powder, wants a playful ski that is light enough to tour with, and generally wants something that will really optimize deep days in playful terrain.
Dylan: Absolutely. The more you prioritize playfulness and maneuverability in your powder ski, the more the ARV 116 JJ UL makes sense. It’s a ton of fun in soft snow, and is really well-suited for freestyle-minded skiers. It also doesn’t have to be deep for you to enjoy this ski; it’s even fun in soft and consistent conditions, such as smooth wind buff or shallower, low-density chop. But the more you’re after a ski that can charge through resort chop and other variable, rough, snow, the more you’ll find the ARV 116 JJ UL lacking.
And as I mentioned earlier, it’s really a shame to not put an uphill-capable binding on this ski. Paired with a lightweight pin binding, the ARV 116 JJ UL could totally serve as a dedicated pow touring ski for someone looking for something playful and surfy. And with how good today’s hybrid bindings are getting, pairing this ski with one of those (such as the Shift we mounted on our test pair) makes a ton of sense.
Bottom Line
The Armada ARV 116 JJ UL is a lightweight ski that is best suited for playful skiing and lots of soft, fresh snow. While its design inherently builds in some limitations to its overall versatility, it definitely thrives in these key areas.
Deep Dive Comparisons
Become a Blister Member to check out our Deep Dive Comparisons of the Armada ARV 116 JJ UL to see how it compares to the Armada ARW 106 UL, Armada ARG II UL, Atomic Bent Chetler 120, Line Vision 118, Line Outline, K2 Reckoner, Blizzard Sheeva 11, Salomon QST Stella 106, K2 Mindbender 115C, Majesty Vadera Ti, Moment Wildcat, & Head Kore 117.
Awesome review as always. How does this ski compare the vanilla/full-weight ARV 116 JJ?
Thanks!
We haven’t had the same reviewer on both of those skis, so we can’t make a direct comparison. But, given that the two versions of the ARV 116 JJ have the same shape and rocker profile, with the only difference being flex pattern and weight (about 400 grams per ski), I think it’s fair to assume that the standard ARV would be notably more damp and composed in chop and crud, while the ARV 116 JJ UL is much quicker but not as stable or damp.
Regarding the flex pattern, Tails should be 4-5, right?
Otherwise a great review! Seems like a great touring/inbounds ski for fresh, deep snow.
No, 9-5 is correct. The tails closer to the middle of the ski (there there is still sidewall) are still quite stiff, but then they get dramatically softer toward the end of the ski.
Thank you!
In your opinion what would the performance differences between the jj ul and regular jj?
Hey Bob, please see my answer to Evan above.
Hi guys, such a great review ! Very constructive and you just covered everything’s around this ski !
I would like to get your POV, im 28 years old, confirmed level, measured 190cm height and weight around 80-82kg. I’m looking to buy these skis in size 185cm rather than 192cm to keep it easy for overall conditions. Looking to use these skis in various types of conditions and mount it with shift 10 to do some up hill. What do you think ? Is there a big difference between them ?