Ski: 2024-2025 Armada Locator 112, 187 cm
Test Locations: Chugach Mountains, AK
Days Skied: 20+
Available Lengths: 166, 173, 180, 187 cm
Blister’s Measured Tip-to-Tail Length (straight-tape pull): 186 cm
Stated Weight per Ski (187 cm): 1650 grams
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski (187 cm): 1608 & 1661 grams
Stated Dimensions: 137-112-128 mm
Blister’s Measured Dimensions: 135.7-111.6-127.8 mm
Stated Sidecut Radius (187 cm): 26 meters
Measured Tip & Tail Splay (ski decambered): 58 mm / 23 mm
Measured Traditional Camber Underfoot: 6 mm
Core Materials: caruba + titanal & rubber binding reinforcement + carbon & fiberglass laminate
Base Material: “Comp Series” base (sintered UHMW w/ added carbon)
Factory Recommended Mount Point: -10.4 cm from center / 83 cm from tail
Boots Used: Salomon S/Lab MTN Summit, Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro, Dynafit Tigard 130, & others
Bindings Used: Marker Alpinist 12
[Note: Our review was conducted on the 23/24 Locator 112, which returned unchanged for 24/25, aside from graphics.]
Intro
A couple years ago, Armada revealed a brand-new collection of touring skis, the Locator series. Spanning widths from a svelte 88 mm all the way up to 112 mm, the Locators are notably lighter than Armada’s previous touring collection, the Tracers, with the Locator skis being designed more specifically for human-powered skiing.
The Locators returned constructionally unchanged for the 23/24 and 24/25 seasons, and I’ve now put about two full seasons on the widest model in the lineup, the Locator 112.
I’ve spent many years skinning and skiing the mountains around Girdwood, Alaska on a huge range of powder-oriented skis, and I’m always on the hunt for something that can make the most of the deep days, also be capable when conditions are less ideal, and do all of that while being as efficient as possible on the skin track.
As I teased in my personal ski-quiver picks this year, and in our Winter Buyer’s Guide, the Locator 112 has proven to be an extremely impressive option in this class.
What Armada says about the Locator 112
“When deep powder is in the forecast and big terrain is on the menu, reach for the Locator 112. The big dog of the Locator Series has a shape optimized for huge float and high speeds thanks to a long radius with low-profile camber and rocker lines. The lightweight, touring-focused construction keeps things efficient on the uptrack, which is good because chances are you’re going to want to take another lap.”
Construction
All the Locator skis feature lightweight caruba wood cores, a sandwich of titanal and rubber around the binding area for added damping and screw retention, and a carbon-reinforced fiberglass laminate. They also come with Armada’s thinnest and lightest 1.7 mm edge, their fastest “Comp Series” base material, “AR75” sidewall construction (i.e., 75% sidewall / 25% cap), and a “Bat Tail” tail insert to keep skin clips centered.
Shape & Rocker Profile
The Locator 112 has a decidedly directional shape and rocker profile. Up front, it features a pretty deeply rockered and tapered tip. Out back, it has a much less rockered and less tapered tail. Between, the rest of the ski is cambered.
Here’s Armada’s image of the Locator 112’s rocker profile:
[Editor’s Note from Luke Koppa: I totally blanked and forgot to shoot our own rocker profile pictures of the Locator 112 before sending it up to Paul, but Armada’s photo above is accurate.]
Flex Pattern
Here’s how we’d characterize the flex pattern of the Locator 112:
Tips: 7
Shovels: 7-8
In Front of Toe Piece: 8.5-10
Underfoot: 10
Behind the Heel Piece: 10-9
Tails: 8.5-7
There’s nothing wild going on with the Locator 112’s flex pattern. It has a strong midsection with notably softer tips and tails, but the ends of the ski aren’t unusually soft by any means and the flex transitions smoothly between them. If anything, the fact that its tail isn’t drastically stiffer than its tips is the noteworthy thing here, given the ski’s otherwise directional design.
Sidecut Radius
At a stated 26 meters for the 187 cm length, the Locator 112’s sidecut radius is on the longer side of average, and I think it’s a key part of what makes this ski so predictable in a wide range of conditions (more on that below).
Mount Point
At a little more than -10 cm back from true center, the Locator 112’s recommended mount point is quite directional.
Now, if you’ve read any of my other ski reviews, you’ll know that I often play with mount point quite a bit, and I was a little skeptical of the relatively rearward mount of the Locator 112. Despite being a directional skier who rarely skis switch, I’ve preferred many directional skis with their bindings bumped a bit closer to center than recommended.
But after skiing it off and on for the better part of two seasons, I haven’t seen a need to stray from the Locator 112’s recommended line. That said, I have found that I prefer skiing it with a little extra forward lean in my boots. In my Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro, that meant adding a spoiler to the liner (I already had its shell’s forward lean maxed out); in the Salomon S/Lab MTN Summit, that meant adjusting the forward lean to that boot’s more forward position.
Overall, this is a fairly directional mount point that encourages a correspondingly directional style, but unlike some other directional pow skis, I’ve still found the Locator 112 to feel relatively balanced and loose when mounted on its recommended line.
Weight
The Locator 112 is very light for its size. Our 187 cm pair weighs about 1635 grams per ski, which is lighter than a lot of narrower and/or shorter touring-oriented skis.
For reference, here are a number of our measured weights (per ski in grams) for some notable skis. Keep in mind the length differences to try to keep things apples-to-apples.
1337 & 1347 Movement Alp Tracks 106, 185 cm
1442 & 1474 Armada Locator 104, 178 cm
1476 & 1490 K2 Wayback 106, 179 cm
1556 & 1559 DPS Pagoda Tour 100 RP, 184 cm
1594 & 1560 La Machine 3 Mega, 184 cm
1605 & 1630 Line Vision 108, 183 cm
1606 & 1641 Blizzard Zero G 105, 188 cm
1608 & 1661 Armada Locator 112, 187 cm
1637 & 1647 Ronin 108, 185 cm
1642 & 1651 Renoun Citadel 106, 185 cm
1654 & 1682 Black Diamond Helio 116, 186 cm (first-gen)
1660 & 1680 Moment Deathwish Tour, 184 cm
1671 & 1675 Weston Summit, 186 cm
1690 & 1695 Nordica Enforcer Unlimited 104, 186 cm
1692 & 1715 Moment Wildcat Tour 108, 184 cm
1705 & 1708 Wagner Summit 105, 185 cm
1725 & 1774 Faction Agent 3.0, 180 cm
1736 & 1767 4FRNT Raven, 184 cm
1820 & 1821 Majesty Havoc 110 Carbon, 186 cm
1820 & 1824 Salomon QST Echo 106, 181 cm
1833 & 1894 Head Kore 111, 184 cm
1835 & 1820 Armada ARV 116 JJ UL, 185 cm
1859 & 1864 Ferreol Surfeur 112, 184 cm
1863 & 1872 Atomic Bent 110, 188 cm
1885 & 1914 Moment Wildcat Tour, 190 cm
1895 & 1906 Folsom Trophy Carbon, 188 cm
1905 & 1919 J Skis Slacker, 188 cm
1970 & 1973 4FRNT Renegade, 184 cm
1973 & 1997 Salomon QST X, 184 cm
1997 & 2003 WNDR Alpine Intention 108, 188 cm
1998 & 2026 Armada ARV 112, 185 cm
2011 & 2023 Dynafit Tigard 114, 188 cm
2060 & 2075 4FRNT Hoji, 184 cm
Now, let’s get into how all of this adds up on snow:
FULL REVIEW
Paul Forward (6’0”, 200 lbs / 183 cm, 90.7 kg): For reference, I’ve now skied the Locator 112 over the course of almost two full seasons in Alaska, which means I’ve used it in a very wide range of conditions. I’ve spent a lot of time on various powder-oriented touring skis over the years, and the Locator 112 has become one of my favorites.
Ascent / Skinning
I’ve personally never really had an issue with any ski, however wide or rockered, on the skin track. But anyone who has had trouble with very rockered touring skis on the ascent will be reassured that the Locator has a good bit of traditional camber and skins very competently with no issues. Its pretty rearward mount point means that you have to give a little more “kick” to each kick turn, but the Locator 112 still comes around very easily with good technique. Overall, this is a light (especially for its width) and intuitive ski for ascending.
Descent: Firm, Smooth Snow
I wouldn’t normally start with these conditions when reviewing a pow-oriented touring ski, but the Locator 112’s versatility is very noteworthy, so I’m going to start where it’s not really meant to excel.
The Locator’s 26-meter stated sidecut radius is on the longer side these days, but it remains a very intuitive ski on firm, smooth conditions. For a ski this wide and light, it’s remarkably capable of carving clean arcs on groomers (or backcountry conditions that resemble groomed snow).
On backcountry windboard or not-yet-softened spring snow, the Locator 112 is at least as good as any >110mm-wide touring ski I’ve ever used, and it might just be the best. It’s a similar story in steep couloirs that are blasted down to being firm and smooth. I rarely find myself skiing touring skis much skinnier than this because I’m always searching for powder in the backcountry, but when I get into steep or consequential terrain on my pow-touring skis, the Locator 112 is one of the better options I’ve tested in this class.
I suspect part of this is related to the Locator 112’s traditional camber and consistent-feeling flex pattern. Overall, this is a great (wider) ski for firm and smooth backcountry conditions, relative to its weight and width. Coupled with its soft-snow performance described below, this is what helps make the Locator 112 one of the most versatile touring skis I’ve used.
Trees & Tight Terrain
One place where the Locator 112 takes a little more effort than more forward-mounted, less cambered, and/or more rockered skis is in tight spaces. The Locator 112’s low weight and generally intuitive feel help make up for this, but when quick, small turns are required, adopting a more traditional technique with conscious weighting/unweighting of the tails is important.
For me, this was probably best illustrated during a cold January tour when I skied a really cool 3000’ run (~900 m) where the top third was down a very steep and narrow chute that cruxed through a gap that was about 5’ wide (~1.50 m), with some steep, rocky tech below that.
It was the first time that season when I found myself in true “no-fall” skiing and was also using a fairly light boot, the Salomon S/Lab MTN Summit. My first turns were pretty tentative and I continued making very deliberate jump turns to the crux, pointed it for a few meters, and was able to quickly shut things down before hitting the pepper below.
In that section, I would have preferred a slightly more forward-mounted ski that was easier to release and slide without requiring as much dynamic unweighting of the tails. However, for the bottom two-thirds of the run, which consisted of moderate to steep boot-top pow, I can’t think of many 112mm-wide skis that would have surfed around so easily with as excellent flotation as the Locator 112. It’s worth noting that I did that run before I increased the forward lean of my boots (which I did that night when I got home), and since then, I’ve done a bit better with the Locator 112 in those kinds of situations.
Powder
Now, let’s get into where the Locator 112 is designed to excel.
For reference, I’ve long been a proponent of using pretty fat skis for powder-focused touring, and I’ve spent many years dragging the lightest-possible 120+ mm skis up the hills around Girdwood, AK. I still love a good pair of ~120mm-wide touring skis, but the Locator 112 (and the previous Black Diamond Helio 116) have made me question my preferences a little.
In all but the deepest, lowest-density pow, the Locator 112 has kept me up and planing — even at lower speeds in more technical terrain. Its tips stay up quite easily, which I think is due to a combination of its more rearward mount point + tip shape that offers a lot of surface area. I still prefer a boot with more forward lean in these conditions, but I’ve found that the Locator 112 works well in powder when skied from both a neutral and more aggressive, forward stance. Skiing in the backseat works okay, but the tails feel a little less supportive and tougher to release, especially when pressuring the back of the boots and tails.
On bigger, steeper runs where throwing the skis sideways and drifting out turns is more important, the Locator 112 still feels well balanced, especially for a ski with this rearward of a mount point. It’s definitely not a particularly drifty / slashy powder ski in the grand scheme, but the Locator 112 will release across the fall line or slarve out a turn when needed. Compared to wider and more progressively mounted skis, the Locator 112 does take a little more effort to release its tails and generally favors skiers who are able to effectively unweight the tails during turn transitions.
Over the past 13 years of heli-ski guiding and watching hundreds of people (of all experience levels) skiing powder, I’ve noticed that many skiers do best on powder skis that don’t require much tail unweighting. For those folks, I might lean away from choosing the Locator 112 for deep powder. But for skiers more comfortable with releasing the tails of directional skis, the Locator 112 could be an excellent choice for those who want a lightweight, deep-powder touring ski (especially one that’s also quite versatile outside of just untracked, deep snow).
Soft Chop
For many years, we’ve emphasized that a ski’s performance in cut-up chop and crud is often closely related to the overall mass of the ski. With that in mind, there’s no getting around the fact that the Locator 112 is a light ski (especially relative to its overall size) and I have no desire to mount it with an alpine binding for smashing chop and other variable inbounds conditions.
That said, when crossing tracks in the low-elevation bottlenecks in popular touring zones, the Locator 112 stays well composed for what it is. Even paired with light, 2-buckle touring boots, the Locator remains pretty predictable at higher speeds and does at least as well in these conditions as any other ski in this weight class (and better than most).
Firm Chop & Crud
Similar to its performance in lightly tracked-out powder, the Locator 112 does remarkably well for its width and weight in rougher, firmer, more inconsistent conditions. I attribute part of that to its long sidecut radius, which allows it to skid and drift around without hooking up.
Compared to the wider pow-touring skis I often prefer when seeking deep snow, the Locator 112 does quite a bit better when I have to get through firmer, more skied-out zones at the bottoms of runs. In these scenarios, I can either try to keep the Locator 112 on edge and knife through the crud in relatively long arcs, or I can ski it with a lighter touch and more playful style, popping from one smoothish turn to another. Overall, the Locator 112 handles these conditions quite a bit better than most other skis that provide as much flotation in deep snow.
Breakable Crust
Backcountry skiing sometimes involves having to negotiate a variety of wind- and sun-crusts, and I’ve seen my share of both while on the Locator 112. This is probably the one type of snow where the Locator 112 does significantly worse than many other powder-touring skis.
My suspicion is that the Locator 112’s pretty rearward mount point and minimally rockered, minimally tapered tail are the main detractors; while I found the tails respectably easy to release in more consistent conditions, it’s quite hard to unweight and free them in grabby crusts.
The best strategy I found with the Locator 112 in these conditions is to commit to the arc of the turn and just carve across the fall line to slow down (i.e., “ride the sidecut”). When I need to make shorter turns in breakable crust, I have to rely on even more exaggerated tail unweighting and precise, almost jump-turn-like placement of the tails to force it into tighter turns.
It’s worth noting that, while the Locator 112 doesn’t do as well in these conditions as some wider and more progressively mounted skis, the Locator 112 still handles breakable crust better than just about any ski I’ve tried that is skinnier. In my opinion, breakable crust is almost always much easier to ski on wide powder skis, and I would take the Locator 112 in these conditions over just about any touring ski under 110 mm underfoot.
Mount Point & Skiing Stances
I’ve alluded to this quite a bit above, but the Locator 112 is definitely on the more traditional / directional side of the spectrum, with a recommended mount point a bit more than -10 cm from true center.
As noted, this is probably part of the reason that it takes a little more effort / a more directional technique to release its tails, relative to fatter and/or less directional powder skis. However, the Locator 112’s low weight, good suspension (relative to that weight), and generally very intuitive nature should keep it from being written off by skiers who often prefer more playful skis. I ski (and enjoy) a very wide range of skis, and the Locator 112 strikes me as a very nicely executed take on a directional, powder-oriented touring ski.
Given its mount point, the Locator 112 still feels well balanced in general; i.e., it’s not a ski where I feel like I’m oddly far back, with a short tail and an unusually large amount of ski in front of me. And in the vast majority of backcountry conditions, it still feels intuitive when skied from a more centered / upright stance.
Reiterating what I previously touched on, I ended up preferring the Locator 112 with a bit more forward lean in my boots than usual. That said, I had plenty of good days on it in soft conditions with my boots in their usual setups; it wasn’t until that more challenging day in steeper, more variable conditions that I felt the need to swap to the more aggressive forward lean angle.
Oh, and to make it clear: this isn’t a very “playful” ski in most senses, especially if you’re talking about freestyle performance. If you want a powder-touring ski that you’ll use for skiing switch, buttering, spinning, etc., this isn’t the ski for you — but Armada makes several other skis for those folks (e.g., ARV 116 JJ UL, Whitewalkers, ARG II).
Who’s It For?
Just about anyone looking for a touring ski that’s lightweight, soft-snow-oriented, but still quite versatile should have the Locator 112 on their shortlist.
Relative to its size, it’s notably light and offers great floatation in deep snow. And while it prefers a fairly traditional, directional style, I’ve found it very easy to get along with in almost all conditions. While it excels in fresh powder, it’s proven more than capable in the various other conditions you might encounter when skiing to / from the good snow.
Its preferred skiing style is most notable in more challenging snow conditions like breakable crusts, where it requires a more precise approach than most of the wider, less directional options out there. But overall, I think the Locator 112 is a really fun ski that’s actually pretty forgiving in most other conditions, and surprisingly versatile for what it is. It should have wide appeal.
Bottom Line
The Armada Locator 112 is one of the most versatile (wider) touring skis I’ve used, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite all-round skis for any of my human-powered skiing endeavors.
Deep Dive coming soon? Interested in a comparison between this and one of the Faction La Machine series.
Sounds like a good ski to take on a steep skiing trip in Europe? If yes, what would you mount with it? Shift2 for better on piste performance?
it looks like narrower and lighter Blizzard Spur 2014/15.
Who makes the blue jacket? Been looking for a really good BC jacket especially w a great hood + brim – which this looks like it has. Much appreciated!
Would be very much interested in a comparison with the „older“ Backland 107.
Since you mentioned the Zero G Tour Pro’s forward lean limitation (it maxes out at 13 deg with the metal part at the back flipped), I’m interested in seeing your review of the new Zero G Tour Pro, which reportedly has a bit more lean. I think that makes sense for Tecnica, since the set of skiers who gravitate towards the 4-buckle Tour Pro in that 1300 g class seems to have a lot of overlap with the set who prefer more forward lean. A lot of the folks who want to be at 12-13 deg are going to go for a 3-piece anyway IMO.
I’m now running my “old” Tour Pros with Raide’s 16 degree lean mod (which basically replaces that same part that you flip to go between 12 and 13), and I suspect that’s fairly close to what you’re getting at 13+spoiler.
I also think that you (implicitly) make a good point by bringing up the boot lean in the same section as mount point. I run ~16 deg lean across all of my boots (the Raptor 140 is my favorite and benchmark). They obviously interact quite a lot.
Good review Paul. What are some touring skis that come to your mind that allow for that more centered (devensive in my case) skiing style? In a similar weight and width category?