A lot of people are starting to ask me what kit I chose and why. Anyone who knows me quickly comes to realise that I am really choosy about kit. The engineer in me looks for a well design product and the realist looks for a product that is robust and won’t let me down. On those big mountain steeps, you will only get away with kit failure if your really lucky and you never know when your luck will run out. Skiing is also a sport about sensations, and skis have to deliver a special combination of power, grip, dampening, agility and stability in just the right amounts to cut it. My skiing developed from an alpine slalom racing background to freeride and big mountain steep skiing. I’m definitely not into lightweight racing kit for ski touring and the chattery feel of those matchsticks. I’d rather put a bit more effort in on the up to be able to blast on the down without the worry of ripping the binding out or snapping a ski.
In the last ten years I have mainly skied Dynastar and Volkl before moving to Black Crows in 2013. I didn’t just move brand because they offered to support me, I went and tried out all their skis at an open day to see how they felt and if they could give me what I am looking for, just as you should. With the progression from cambered Dynastar pro riders to Volkl, Katanas, Kuros then Shiro’s you can see there is a general mix of performance with a growing trend of playfulness and agility. Long gone are the days you chose a big GS ski for stability at the sacrifice of agility, modern skis can do it all.
The Corvus has been Black Crows Sovereign ski since the brands conception, and with each year they have added some extra width to drive the market trend. We chose this ski to take on a 30 day expedition on Baffin Island to ski couloirs and here’s why. I wanted a ski that was reasonably stiff, had tip rocker a for forgiving nature, a classic tail for powering out of turns and edging, and at just over 4 kg for the pair light enough to do 1000 m a day, day in day out. This is a ski that likes to charge, and the harder you push the more impressed would will be with it stability as it shows its calibre. You can ski pow with dustbin lids but when its variable, crusty or firm then you start to appreciate the all round abilities. Its like a Mantra but with an extra 10 mm under foot fun added. It will be equally at home with alpine or touring bindings depending out what you want to do. I rated the ski on the 10 qualities I look for in a ski:
Chasing Tom Grant – Ford Wall, Baffin Island
Ross Hewitt Guiding 