2023 Armada ARV 106

Armada’s ARV 106 is a perfect representation of the brand. It’s intended to be playful, fun, and highly versatile for anything your local mountain has to offer. At 106 mm underfoot, it’s more than capable in powder conditions, yet remains appropriate as an all-mountain ski for those who prefer being on a wider platform. As is true with the whole ARV line, there’s a significant amount of freestyle and park influence in its shape and performance. While it might be a little wide for most skiers as a dedicated park ski, it blurs the line between park ski and powder ski, allowing you to cruise park laps and also take those tricks to natural hits and backcountry terrain. Armada uses a poplar and ash wood core in this ski, which relatively simple sandwich construction. Their Smear Tech design gives the ski a more surfy feel thanks to easier edge release in the tips and tails, which is especially noticeable when you take it into deeper snow conditions or when doing tricks like nose butters 360s.

Jeff Neagle tested the 180 cm length, which he thought skied “true to size for this type of ski.” Jeff’s highest marks were for playfulness, versatility, and overall impression, all coming in at 5 out of 5. Flotation, quickness/maneuverability, and forgiveness were right behind at 4 out of 5, with just stability and torsional stiffness falling to 3 out of 5 scores. “I love wider twin tips like this. So much fun. Crosses over between being a versatile all-mountain ski, a park ski, and a powder ski. For an eastern skier, this could be a dedicated powder ski, especially if you want to be on a twin tip. Enough width, enough rocker, and the Smear Tech helps with both float and edge release in deeper snow conditions. It's not just a floppy, unstable ski either. I did give it a 3 for stability, but that's mostly coming from the twin tip shape and relatively long rocker. You just don't get a long effective edge, which takes away some of what I perceive to be stability, but the ski does feel solid. Certainly something you can let run through chop, just not a ski you really want to push on in a carved turn. Armada has the Declivity 102 and 108 for that, so it makes sense. Butter, slash, smear, and play in any snow conditions. It's not the quickest in the park, but certainly could work for someone who just wants to mess around, or something who always prefers being on a wider platform.”

Bob St.Pierre also skied the 180 cm length, which he thought was just a bit too short for him. “I thought it was going to be too short, but given the build, it holds up fine. I would still choose a 188 for myself.” Bob’s scores were similar to Jeff’s, although flotation rose to 5 out of 5 and playfulness dropped to 4 out of 5. Bob also bumped up his stability score to 4 out of 5, compared to a 3 from Jeff, which is especially interesting given he was on a shorter-than-ideal length. “There's aren't too many 106's out there like this. The Armada ARV 106 is one of the most playful of the big twins out there. Thanks to the construction of the ski, it does not feel flimsy in the least--in fact, the weight makes it a bit sluggish if you're not active. But this is they type of ski that you want to be active on because it's so much fun. When you get it in the soft snow, the rocker, shape, and Smear Tech tips and tails all align to make a supremely playful and maneuverable ski for advanced and expert skiers. My ego tells me that if I'm looking at skis in this range, that they should have a bunch of metal in them, the reality is that the ARV 106 is much more appropriate for how I ski most of the time. I love the longer radius, the twin-tip versatility, and the consistent flex of these skis. They're not terrible carvers on the groomers, but they definitely enjoy the softer snow more.”

If you have a freestyle mentality and are looking for a ski to match, while allowing you to cross over between powder and park, it doesn’t get much better than the ARV 106. As Armada says in their catalog, “The ARV 106 is as at home surfing the white wave as it is thrashing the pro park,” and we can’t think of a better way to describe it. What’s particularly interesting about our testing, however, is Bob’s not the type of skier who spends much time in the terrain park, yet he still thoroughly enjoyed the ARV 106. So, even if you’re not a big park skier, this ski can still be an excellent tool.