2018-2019 Armada Tracer 108

This past season I spent several days touring on the Tracer 108 (mounted with the Fritschi Tecton 12) around the Front Range of Colorado, and also took it out for a couple days under the lifts at Taos. Overall, I really like this ski, and think it offers a blend of playfulness, fairly low weight, and stability that many skiers will appreciate.

Powder

Powder — you like to ski it, I like to ski it, but does the Tracer 108 like to ski it?

Well, I guess a ski can’t really “like” to do anything since it’s just a bunch of wood, metal, plastic mashed together, but I can say that the Tracer 108 was a lot of fun in the light, 12” of pow I got it in.

I’d say the Tracer 108 offers above-average float for its width, and at 5”8”, ~155 lbs, I didn’t experience any major tip dive in up to around a foot of pow. While I typically prefer powder skis in the 185-190 cm range, I had no issue with using the 180 cm Tracer 108 as my touring ski for days when I knew I’d be skiing fresh snow (I’d go with the 188 cm Tracer 108 if I was primarily using it inbounds).

The Tracer 108 doesn’t have extremely high tip splay or a super deep tip rocker line, but it still planed well, and it felt very maneuverable in the tight, treed terrain I typically tour in during the winter in Colorado.

The Tracer 108 doesn’t feel as pivoty and loose as most reverse camber skis I’ve been on (e.g., the old Dynafit Chugach), but given how comfortable the Tracer 108 felt on less-deep conditions, I thought it offered a very nice amount of flotation and pivotability in powder.

Soft Chop

When I had to ski over my touring partners’ tracks in the backcountry (screw you, Matt) or other people’s at the resort, the Tracer 108 remained predictable and intuitive, but it’s by no means some charger. The 180 cm Tracer 108 weighs just under 1900 grams, and it doesn’t have a super burly flex pattern. As a result, it felt best when skied with a lighter, more active skiing style when I encountered soft, chopped-up snow.

But if you prefer to take things a bit slower when skiing chop, I think the Tracer 108’s design works really well. Because this ski feels like it has a very large sweet spot, and I very rarely found myself feeling off-balance on it. And for a fairly light 50/50 ski, that’s exactly what I want. (If I’m skiing a light ski like the Tracer 108 in the resort, I expect to have to dial back my skiing more than I would on a heavier, dedicated inbounds ski.)

So for a 50/50 ski, I’d personally much rather have something that’s predictable and intuitive over a stiffer ski that might be able to be pushed a bit harder, but that requires me to be 100% on top of my game in order to ski it in challenging conditions.

Groomers

I really liked this ski in pow, so I didn’t have super high expectations for its corduroy-carving performance. But once I got it out at Taos and could do some proper inbounds testing, the Tracer 108 continued to prove its versatility.

Once tipped over on edge, the Tracer 108 again felt intuitive and actually pretty strong (it is pretty stiff around the bindings). I could confidently crank out medium- to large-radius turns on fairly soft groomers, and as long as the groomers were consistent and fairly smooth, the Tracer 108 held an edge well.

At the end of the day when the groomers were all chopped up, the Tracer 108 did struggle a bit. On bumpy groomers the Tracer 108’s tips would get knocked off-track at high speeds. Similar to chop, this is where having more weight is helpful, but I think the Tracer 108 felt on-par when it came to stability compared to most of the other skis I’ve used that are similarly light.

Moguls

This is the one area where I didn’t love the Tracer 108. To me, it felt a bit sluggish in the soft bumps I got it in. It’s still a forgiving ski (its tails are far from punishing), it just felt a bit slower edge-to-edge than skis with similar weights and rocker profiles.

But if you primarily want a ski that won’t throw you around in bumps and you’re not trying to quickly zipper line through bumps, then the Tracer 108 could definitely still be a good fit. And it’s also worth noting that it feels very easy to maneuver in steep terrain where the movements are a bit slower and more precise, compared to when trying to swiftly ski through tight bumps.

Playfulness

While it is a directional ski, the Tracer 108 has a forgiving, round flex pattern and enough tip and tail rocker to make it easy to release. And that combo makes it stand out in the 50/50 category. Because, while it felt best when skied with a forward stance, the Tracer 108’s tips and tails also felt pretty poppy on jumps, and I could easily break it free when I wanted to shut down speed or slash little pow stashes.

The 50/50 category continues to grow each year, but skiers who want a 50/50 ski that’ll let them play around a bit in the backcountry are still left with limited choices. And now that Atomic has replaced the Backland FR 109 with the much lighter and touring-oriented Backland 107, I think the Tracer 108 stands out even more in the 50/50 category due to its playful feel. The Tracer 108 doesn’t feel like a freestyle ski (it still has a recommended mount point that’s more than -9 cm from center), but it caters better to a less-serious, more laid-back style of skiing than many other directional 50/50 skis out there.

Who’s It For?

I think the Tracer 108 makes the most sense as a true 50/50, 1-ski quiver for areas like Colorado and Utah. It doesn’t necessarily stand out in any particular area, but the Tracer 108 has done quite well in pretty much all the terrain and conditions I’ve gotten it in, which is what I look for in a 1-ski quiver.

I wouldn’t recommend the Tracer 108 to skiers who are more concerned with top-end stability than they are with how playful their skis feel. There are many stiffer, burlier skis out there for those folks.

But if you’re looking for a ski that you can use inside and outside the resort and want something that’s predictable and more playful than many other directional skis, then I think the Tracer 108 could be a great fit. This ski never threw any unwanted surprises my way, which is exactly what I want from a ski I’ll be touring on in a wide range of conditions. And it comes in at a weight that I think hits the sweet spot between being light enough for the skintrack and heavy enough to handle pretty hard skiing in the resort.

Bottom Line

To bring things full-circle, let’s again look at what Armada said about the new Tracer 108:

“For 18/19 we’re still focused on a stable and predictable ski in versatile conditions, but added subtle rocker and taper regions to keep the Tracer series nimble and playful when you want to have a little fun.”

After spending a lot of time on the Tracer 108, my experience matches up almost perfectly with that description. This is a very predictable ski across a wide range of conditions; it’s pretty stable for its weight; and it’s agile and more playful than many other directional skis in its class.

Deep Dive Comparisons: Armada Tracer 108

Become a Blister Member or Deep Dive subscriber to check out our Deep Dive of the Tracer 108 to see how it stacks up against the Atomic Backland FR 109, Line Sick Day 104, Salomon QST 106, Rossignol Soul 7 HD, Sego Big Horn 106, Faction Candide 3.0, Sego Condor Ti, and Liberty Origin 106.

NEXT: Rocker Profile Pics