2016-2017 Majesty Skis Superior 186 cm
Available Lengths (cm): 178, 186, 194 cm
Blister’s Measured Tip-to-Tail Length: 186.7 cm
Stated Weight per Ski (181 cm): 2250 g
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski (186 cm): 2227 & 2238 grams
Stated Dimensions (mm): 135-115-130
Blister’s Measured Dimensions (mm): 134-114.5-131
Stated Sidecut Radius: 23 meters (186 cm)
Core: Poplar / Ash
Tip & Tail Splay (ski decambered): 63 mm / 49 mm
Traditional Camber Underfoot: ~6 mm
Recommended Mount Point: 90.35 cm from tail / – 3 cm from center
Intro
While the name “Majesty Skis” may not be on the tip of many North American skier’s tongues, the Polish brand has been producing a full line of skis for quite a while now. All of their skis are made in their factory in Poland, and through their “Skis4Trees” campaign, they plant a tree for every pair of skis sold.
We’ll be getting time on a few pairs of Majesty skis this season, starting with the Superior, their “backcountry freeride” ski.
But what exactly is “backcountry freeriding?” Majesty’s description of the Superior offers some clues: “a top choice for backcountry powder action, these hybrid technology skis are a perfect combination of floating and ease of rocker with camber snappy suspension and control. Lively in powder and shock-absorbing in rough terrain or chewed-up conditions, the Superior are an absolute must have for BC, deep powder or off-piste enthusiasts.”
That sounds pretty similar to a lot of skis on the market right now — jibby skis designed to be fun and be playful in powder, but still stable and predictable enough to use as a daily driver at resorts that get a decent amount of snow.
That puts the Superior in line with skis like the ON3P Kartel 116, J Skis Friend, and the old K2 Shreditor 112. Since I spend the majority of my time in the Tetons, I like wider skis that are fun to jib, both when the snow is deep, and on lower tide crud-busting days. So, before we get the Majesty Superior on snow, how does it compare, just by the numbers?
We’ve also now posted our Deep Dive Comparisons of the Superior to a host of other playful powder skis, so become a Blister member or Deep Dive subscriber to check out our comparisons.
Flex Pattern
I’d describe the Superior’s flex pattern like this:
Tips: 7
Forebody: 7.5
Underfoot: 8
Tail: 7.5
The tips feel very similar to the ON3P Kartel 116, and then the ski gradually stiffens up underfoot, before getting a little softer again at the tail. This is a very consistent flex pattern, there are no weird hinges, or surprises here. Just based off of hand flexing the ski, I’m excited; it seems like the tips and tails of the ski will be soft enough to push into butters and ollies, while the ski is still heavy enough and sturdy enough that it won’t noodle out in crud. We’ll see.
Shape
While heavily tapered tips and tails seem to be in vogue for powder skis, the Superior has less dramatic taper, and instead has almost straight sections in the tip and tail in front of the sidecut.. The Superior’s tips and tails remind me most of the old K2 Shreditor 112 (a ski I love), but the Superior is slightly less tapered.
Profile
The first thing I noticed about the Superior was how much traditional camber it has. There is a lot of camber underfoot on this ski, and it extends far in front of and far behind the bindings. This, combined with the flex pattern of the Superior makes me think, “Poppy.” My guess is that these skis will also hold an edge very well for their width on firmer snow.
The tip and tail splay blends very smoothly into the rocker lines; there are short sections of rocker in the tips and tails, but they don’t extend far down the ski compared to skis like the Kartel 116 or Friend. These conservative rocker lines, combined with the Superior’s subtle tip and tail taper, have me very optimistic about how they’ll perform in less-than-perfect conditions. But it will be interesting to see if these elements compromise the Superior’s performance in powder, and their overall playfulness.
Mount Point
Majesty recommends a mount point of -3 cm from center. That’s a touch further forward than usual, even for a jibby ski like this. However, given the amount of camber underfoot, and the lack of excessively rockered tips I have a feeling that I won’t have too much of a problem stability-wise with the more forward mount, and it should make the ski easier to spin and jib.
Bottom Line (For Now)
Out of the box, the Majesty Superior looks like it could be a legit contender in the 112-118 mm underfoot all-mountain jib ski category. I was very impressed with its build quality and finish. Given its shape and profile, I’m interested to see how well it performs in chopped-up and firm conditions, as well as powder.
DEEP DIVE COMPARISONS
Become a Blister member or Deep Dive subscriber to read how the Superior stacks up against a number of other playful powder skis, including the Armada ARV 116 JJ, Line Mordecai, ON3P Kartel 116, Moment Blister Pro, Atomic Bent Chetler, and K2 Catamaran. and more.
NEXT: Rocker Profile Pics
The shape looks very much like the White Dot Redeemer, which is a Awesome powder ski.
Any further thoughts on this ski? From Europe so can get a reasonable deal on it. Other skis I’ve been looking at are the Kartel 116 and the Bibby. Cheers!
getting hard into skiing the past couple years coming from many years as a boarder and picked these up on sale last year and they’re so much fun. Obviously kill it in deeper stuff but surprisingly light and suprr fun to play popping off bits of terrain etc pretty much anywhere. I really wasn’t expecting to carve/get much edge but was very surprised how much they went ‘oh, ok then, let’s go’. Overall just seemed to make sense as soon as I got on them and then carried on opening up in good ways. Beautiful graphics in real life too. Of course a bit rattly and far less focus on glassy hard pack but that’s a v fair trade-off for everything else. Wouldn’t call them a one-ski quiver but that’s fine by me, I have some Bacons to fill the gaps.