Are you looking to buy a new pair of skis this season but you have no idea where to start? With so many options and so much jargon and tech to get your head around when looking at buying women's skis it can be a total head melt! Well let us help you out! This is our top picks list of the best women’s skis of 2020 according to us here at Latitude.
When buying a new pair of skis it’s useful to have a good idea of what type of ski you are after. Check out our Latitude guide to buying women’s skis.
Great now you have a good idea of what type of ski you want to get, check out our top picks below...
If piste skiing and performance carving is your jam these options are for you...
The Nordica Sentra has been designed with a super tight turning radius so you can smash out those carves and jump from edge to edge like no tomorrow! The Nordia Sentra has a full camber profile and is truly a slalom ski at heart designed for you to rapid fire those groomers!
One of the top search terms for 2020 was Women's skis atomic, and for good reason - coming out in a lot of tests this year as the best value women’s downhill ski was the Atomic Cloud! The Women's Atomic Cloud has been designed to ensure every day on the piste is a dream. The Atomic cloud has a light core and a full camber profile making it easy to pop this ski from turn to turn. Turn it up a notch and get into GS mode, the ski will playfully jump between turn sizes while the ski’s Titanium stabilizer hushes chatter at speed.
Now here at Latitude we are not exactly pro race skiers, we love a versatile ski that can take us from ripping up the piste to smashing down the chopped-up stuff. A ski that will take us anywhere and make us feel good whilst doing it. That is where the Womens K2 Mindbender series comes in. Arguably the best ski for piste / downhill would be the K2 Mindbender 88 TI Alliance, K2's Women's specific hardpack performance ski with a freeride twist!
Yeah, yeah, another skinny-waisted freeride ski. But after that first turn, you’ll realize this isn’t something you’ve ridden before. Nimble where you need it, but damp when things get rowdy, the Mindbender 88Ti Alliance offers the precision and grip you’ve been searching for in that everyday skiing experience. Wrap it up with K2's stable Titanial Y Beam and this is the ultimate piste to all-mountain ski!
You can shop the Women's K2 Skis with bindings on our store too!
All mountain skis are probably the biggest category and most sought after for women wanting to buy that ‘one ski quiver’. We found it quite hard to narrow this category down with so many amazing options out there…
Here at Latitude we are particularly excited about this year's LINE Pandora collection.
Developed with Hadley Hammer, the LINE Pandora series is designed for women who rip. Featuring three different waist widths, with the Pandora 104 for deep days, the Pandora 94 for all-mountain versatility, and the Pandora 84 for hard carving groomer laps, the Pandora Collection opens the door to all different types of women's skiing.
Arguably the most versatile width is the Pandora 94. The LINE Pandora 94 defines all-mountain capacity. Quick edge-to-edge performance paired with a surf-like feel on the backend of turns, the Pandora 94 is the one freak of a ski you need – no matter the conditions. Constructed with Magic Finger Carbon Filaments™, these skis offer an unmatched weight-to-performance ratio for long days on the hill.
The Pandora 94 is your ticket to a lightweight, nimble ride. With enough rocker and taper to tackle a variety of terrain, you'll be right at home ripping groomers, hardpack, and those few fresh inches of snow that fell overnight on the Pandora 94. Pick up your new favourite ski and experience the thrill of lightweight all-mountain skiing.
You can shop the Line Pandora Skis with Bindings on our store too!
Black Crows have been going from strength to strength across Europe…. You will not go to a french ski resort this season and not spot a pair of Black Crows Skis and for good reason! The Women's Black Crows Camox birdieis a great all mountain women's ski.
At 97mm underfoot and with a 19-meter turn radius, they're just plain fun to ride, and they make anyone a better skier. They're dependable enough for expert freeriders and forgiving enough for intermediate piste riders. They shred on the piste, love to play in trees and powder, have pop for the side hits, and grip for the ice. No extra tech here just skis built for fun days on the mountain!
Now a confession to make, here at Latitude we have not actually tested the Women's Blizzard Black Pearlbut it is the industry’s top selling ski for women this season so we had to see what all the fuss is about.
Testers across the industry state that the Blizzard Black Pearl is versatile, approachable yet has high end performance. This ski features Blizzard’s women’s specific Carbon flipcore construction which gives it a lightweight feel, good edge grip and stability! This is one of the post popular skis on the market as you don’t have to be the hardest charging skier to enjoy shredding it. Whether you are a weekend skier, intermediate or more aggressive beginner you will enjoy shredding the Blizzard Black Pearl!
If lapping the park with your girl squad and jumping off every jib on the piste is your thing then check out our tip park ski picks!
The Line Honey Bee is an epic women's freestyle ski and is the go-to ski for LINE pro rider Taylor Lundquist, the LINE Honey Bee will allow you to float like a butterfly and spin like a top. The Honey Bee offers durable park performance in an affordable package thanks to the Aspenlite™ Core and Cap Construction for the freestyle female who wants it all.
You can shop the Line Honey Bee Women's Freestyle Skis with Bindings on our store!
The K2 Missconduct is K2's ultimate women's park-specific ski! This is the ski that has taken K2’s female athletes to the top of freestyle skiing’s most prestigious podiums. You’ve seen both Johanne Killi and Maggie Voisin ski these dream whips to the podium of skiing’s biggest stages. And these aren’t some dialed back slouches; the K2 Missconduct is the ultimate park ski for the dedicated skier.
The Womens Faction skis have had a hell of a lot of press this past year and it’s no surprise why with an insane line up of female pro skiers on their team! Just go watch the women’s segment of the Faction film last year… mind blown!
The Faction Prodigy 1.0 X is the same as the men’s equivalent with a different tip sheet. This Poplar-cored, mid-flex freestyle twin tip ski for intermediate, advanced and expert skiers, has buckets of pop and flex while maintaining real performance on the downhill. Favourites of competition champs such as Kelly Sildaru and Sarah Hoefflin, the 2021 Faction Prodigy 1.0X lay the tracks for modern-day, do-it-all park skis.
Women’s freeride skis is a category that is growing with the increasing technology allowing more and more skiers to safely and enjoyably explore the mountain outside of the boundry lines.
Being a whopper, the Armada VJJ doesn’t come out of the garage often, but when it does… boy is it good! Latitude have actually still got a pair of 2017 VJJ’s that still come out to play every powder day!
The Armada VJJ returns for 2021 with an updated, super light caruba wood core that provides increased responsiveness and boosts its popping prowess. The VJJ also has Armada’s ‘Smear Tech’ which is a three dimensional shape in the tips and tails which allows for 360 degrees of surfy butteryness. This ski doesn’t ski like any others in it’s category and we love it for it!
Being heavier and wide these skis do take some aggressiveness to really get the most out of them but they really do float like a dream!
We couldn’t have a blog about the best women’s skis and not include our ultimate fave brand Coalition Snow!
The Rafikiis Coalition’s powder ski option that not only floats through the powder but is pivoty and nimble on the groomers too allowing a very versatile ski that will float in that japan pow but also smash through twisty and turny tree runs!
Rafiki means “friend” in Swahili and pays tribute to the trees that Coalition plant in Kenya for every ski and snowboard they make!
An ample tip and waist provide the floaty ride, a pared-down tail makes for quick release and instant control, while camber underfoot is all business on the groomer. Fun at any speed, the Rafiki is your deep day (and every day) besty.
It’s no secret that this ski rips! The Volkl Secret 102 is their number one recommendation for all the hard charging freeride women out there. The Volkl Secret has a Titanal frame and Carbon Tips which ensures stability and dampening in the chopped stuff and has a ‘3 radius’ sidecut meaning you have maximum turning and speed versatility in all mountain skiing.
This would be our pick at Latitude if you are looking for a stiffer hard charging freeride ski that behaves more like your traditional downhill ski.
Another ski latitude has in their garage is the Armada Trace 98. This ski has improved my touring experience tenfold! It’s pretty lightweight especially as I have the Marker King Pin binding on it, but this does not sacrifice the ski down, charging through most conditions I have put it through!
Built with the backcountry journey woman in mind, the 98 features metal-reinforced binding pads to absorb bumps and vibrations and provide a little extra security when looking for fresh snow beyond resort boundaries with its 98 waist. Lightweight performance!
More than just a pink ski, the Faction Agent Xis a mid flex lightweight touring ski that doubles up as being great for all mountain shredding too! If you want a tourable ski that won’t sacrifice the ski down this is for you. Build with a modern shape and a stiffer tail this ski will float in most conditions.
Just because the Salomon QST Stella 106 has a pink top sheet doesn’t mean that this ski is the watered down version of the mens! The widest of the women’s QST series built by Salomon is an easy-to-ride, all day, everyday kinda ski.
With Titanal for dampness and power and a revised sidecut with cork in the tip these skis totally rip, made for women who like to go steep and deep!
We haven’t really spoken about bindings in this blog but we can’t talk about the Salomon QST without mentioning the shift binding. Landing on the market last season the shift was revolutionary in changing the touring binding. The Salomon shift acts like a regular alpine binding, and then can be changed to a pin binding for ski touring allowing for lightweight capabilities but again not sacrificing that aggressive feeling on the down! We could bang on about the Shift binding for hours… go check it out!
So we hope this has inspired you to check out some brands you might not have thought about before! Here at Latitude throughout our gear guides we always try to give honest advice from our own experiences so we hope you find this useful and find your perfect pair of skis this season!
Don't forget we have a range of skis from Lineand K2 to purchase on our own site now too!!