Ski Reviews

2023-2024 Armada ARG II UL, 187 cm

Reviewer Username: dylanwood

Reviewer Height: 5’10”

Reviewer Weight: 160 lbs

Reviewer Experience Level: Expert

DAYS USED: 5 days

TEST LOCATIONS: Crested Butte Mountain Resort, CB Backcountry

TEST TERRAIN: Softer groomers | Softer moguls | Fairly steep off-piste terrain | Very steep off-piste terrain

TEST CONDITIONS: Softer, but not deep snow | Untracked powder (deep) | Soft chop / pretty forgiving cut-up snow

PERFORMANCE RATINGS

(0 = Terrible, 5 = Okay, 10 = Outstanding)

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 10/10

FORGIVENESS: 6/10

MANEUVERABILITY (How Loose / Easy to Pivot & Smear?): 10/10

MANEUVERABILITY (How Quick / Low is the Swing Weight?): 8/10

STABILITY: 6/10

SUSPENSION: 6/10

EDGE HOLD: 2/10

PLAYFULNESS: 9/10

PLAYFULNESS (Open Ended):

Very loose and surfy in powder, more so than really anything else I’ve tried.

SKI LENGTH: It felt just right (187 cm length tested)

THIS SKI’S IDEAL TERRAIN: Low-angle, off-piste terrain | Fairly steep off-piste terrain | Very steep off-piste terrain | Trees

THIS SKI’S IDEAL SNOW CONDITIONS: Untracked powder (shallow) | Untracked powder (deep)

WHAT TYPE(S) OF SKIER DO YOU IMAGINE WILL GET ALONG BEST WITH THIS SKI?

Skiers interested in something very loose and surfy, providing a unique powder-skiing experience, and who also are okay with forgoing performance on firm snow or even chop. Could be enjoyed by intermediates through experts.

ARE THERE SIMILAR PRODUCTS YOU’VE SKIED THAT YOU CLEARLY PREFER? IF SO, WHY?

Several other powder skis are much, much more practical in the resort when encountering chop, crud, and just carving on groomers back to the lift. But, nothing beats the ARG II UL when it comes to looseness and maneuverability in pure powder, so long as you keep some speed.

PLEASE ELABORATE ON ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT THIS SKI. FEEL FREE TO GO INTO DETAIL!

For such a unique shape, this ski is surprisingly intuitive in powder. It’s so easy to turn, carve, slarve, and slash through deep powder at a variety of speeds. On the flip side, it feels very foreign on firm snow. It simply does not want to carve, and you have to sort of “skate” your way around cat track corners in a way you would never think about doing on a ski with sidecut.

It’s definitely most ideal for people who get to regularly ski deep powder, whether inbounds or in the backcountry. It makes powder skiing so easy that I could see intermediate skiers getting along with it, though I wouldn’t recommend it to a beginner because of how fundamentally different it is from other skis.

At 2300 g, it does ok in chop, but the shape and rocker profile are not doing you any favors here. Overall a really enjoyable ski that I would have in my own quiver if that quiver extended to 8 skis or so.