2023 Armada Declivity 108 Ti

Armada’s Declivity 108 Ti sits squarely in the freeride category and gives advanced and expert level skiers a ripping soft snow resort ski. Hovering right around 2000 g, we think it’s a little heavy for alpine touring, but it’s right at home lapping your favorite chair. It is, quite obviously, 108 mm underfoot and unlike a lot of Armada’s skis, features a directional shape. There’s tip and tail rocker and some early taper too, but both are more significant in the tip compared to the tail. The 182 cm length comes along with a 21.7 m turn radius, which we think is a nice sweet spot for a ski like this. Not so short that the ski’s going to want to turn all the time, but short enough to feel responsive and agile. Armada uses a cool mix of materials to achieve the performance they’re looking for. A lightweight Caruba wood core starts the build, which is boosted by Armada’s Articulated Titanal Banding technology. The top layer of metal has longitudinal slits in the foredody of the ski, effectively taking away torsional stiffness, which allows the ski to twist and gives turn initiation a smoother, easier feel. The rest of the ski is intended to stay strong throughout the turn, allowing you to blast around the mountain with confidence, even at really high speeds.

Jeff Neagle tested the 182 cm length, which he thought skied true to size and would be the best length for his size and ability level. We saw a range of scores from Jeff, with stability hitting the full 5 out of 5 mark. Quickness, playfulness, and forgiveness were all at 3 out of 5, but that doesn’t raise any concerns in our minds. Those characteristics generally aren’t what you’re going to get from a ski that’s 108 underfoot with this much metal. Flotation, torsional stiffness/edge grip, and overall impression all earned 4 out of 5 scores. “This thing is pretty badass. It's a super strong big mountain ski that can charge, but then there's a little bit of a playful side to it and some relative forgiveness too. I say relative forgiveness because realistically, it's still a lot for most skiers to handle, but put it up against other skis in this width range with metal and I do think the Declivity 108 is one of the easier skis to handle. Tip and tail rocker and taper allows for easier edge release than some skis in the big mountain charger category. It's not as quick or as agile as something like the ARV 106, but not completely locked into a turn or stuck on edge. I don't think there's a great east coast application for it, maybe as a powder ski for a bigger skier, but if I lived pretty much anywhere out west, I'd be psyched to own a pair. Actually, it's not too far off from something like the Enforcer 110, and I've had some good Stowe powder skis on that ski, so I guess I won't completely rule it out for the east. I just feel like it's better at making big, high speed turns in open terrain rather than darting and dancing through trees, but I'm a pretty small guy, so there's that.”

Bob St.Pierre is a much bigger guy, so opted for the 190 cm length in his testing. “Given even slightly soft conditions, this thing is an amazing ski. We got to ski it during a snowfall, so we got the softer surfaces to play in. While it's not the quickest or most agile ski out there, it certainly plows through anything you put in front of it. I love the shovel shape and how the taper works really well at getting the ski up and on top of the surface. Underfoot and through the tail, this ski is all business. It rips turns at any speed with the utmost stability and dampness. There's no chatter or wavering whatsoever. My high scores of 5's are directly related to this sensation. I'd love to use it in wider spaces than we have here in VT, but that's for another day. Even so, it didn't do bad at all in our narrower terrain.” Bob’s 5 out of 5 scores were for stability and overall impression. In fact, all of our testers rated stability at 5 out of 5. Only forgiveness fell to 3 out of 5 for Bob, which left us with a lot of respectable 4 out of 5 scores. Marcus Shakun also skied the 190 cm length. Flotation and stability both got 5s from Marcus, although quickness/maneuverability, playfulness, and forgiveness dropped to 2 out of 5. “This is a whole lot of ski. Beyond stable at all speeds. Turn shape is big and takes some speed to get it up on the edge. Not for a weak skier, even if advanced. This ski requires some attention and some power.”