Black Diamond has been busy these days, refining and expanding their backcountry ski offerings. The entire Efficient Series has been changed to what they’re now calling the FreeTour skis, and we can look forward to some new models to go with it. The Revert is a brand new design that the company is calling the “mini AMPerage” and the Megawatt has undergone a transformation into a carbon version for lighter tourability. I got to ski both skis at the 2012 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market All Mountain Demo, and came away with a few thoughts.
First I skied the Black Diamond Revert. Right off the bat these skis proved themselves as quick turners that felt real good going from edge to edge. The playfulness was nice to feel underfoot, even on rock-solid moguls and bumps at Solitude. Their light weight allowed for speedy reaction time, but when brought up to high speed on the groomers, they got real chattery through sections of hardpack.
Alas, the Revert are backcountry skis – mountaineering skis in fact, according to Black Diamond. As such, these sticks clearly preferred slow, methodical maneuvers on the snow. Based on that knowledge, I’d say the Revert are a good tool for technical mountain adventures and powder skiing on wild lands. Dimensions of the Revert are 122-95-110.
Next on the docket were the Black Diamond Carbon Megawatts. Just the thought of a carbon version of one of Black Diamond’s most legendary skis is enough to drool all over my ski boots, and picking them up at the Black Diamond tent made other bodily functions occur that are best not described here. Luckily, I held it together and skied beneath the Eagle Express lift on a day that only crazy people would want such a fat ski to ride on – read: man made snow and ice.
I didn’t need to worry, because the Carbon Megawatt skied the hardpack like they were born to do it. Really, they were surprisingly nimble for a ski that is 125 underfoot. Overall they felt very stiff and I didn’t notice any of the dreaded “tip flop” that most rockered skis suffer from.
Although these Megawatts are of carbon construction, which means a lighter weight version, that doesn’t mean they’re light. These skis are still big and beefy, which makes them very stable and a thrill to make sweeping, long turns on groomers. I had no problem getting edge to edge and even managed to navigate some bump runs with them. Of course I would love to try them in deep powder… maybe someday.