2023 Black Crows Camox Birdie

For a freestyle-oriented ski with plentiful versatility and playful performance, you can’t get much better than the Black Crows Camox Birdie. While each model in the Birdie series gravitates towards all mountain exploration with a lightweight, agile nature, the Camox trends more towards park/freestyle over the rest. With a twin tip, dual rockered shape, progressive flex towards the tips and tails provides liveliness and a lot of fun on park features and natural hits. Camber underfoot and a 97 mm waist provides decent stability and edge hold yet doesn’t fall in line with the stiffest of skis. Given the shape, upon softer conditions where you want a little more float, they certainly perform well and maintain responsiveness. Poplar wood and fiberglass laminate make up the core, which as we’ve seen with the other Birdie models, makes up a lightweight and manageable foundation to which skiers can intuitively control while having fun with the playful nature of the build.

Alli Ruschp skied the 168 and felt it was the appropriate length for her. She really had fun on these skis, putting the playfulness to the test all around the mountain. Earning 4’s and 5’s in all categories, it’s clear Alli found a lot to love about the Camox Birdies. She found them to be a “boisterous, playful ski! Surprised at the playfulness, easy to turn and fun to pop around in tighter spaces. It's so playful you will be laughing your way down the hill. Geared towards a more advanced skier and also softer snow conditions. Not the best edge grip on ice, but I was confident in the rest of the terrain and conditions I skied. A little bit of camber underfoot helped to engage the turn and was able to get fast smooth turns. This would be a great option for bigger mountains, with softer snow conditions or someone adding to the quiver for that light powder day, or someone that likes the woods and bumps skiing.”

For Allarie Sullivan, the 162 in length felt just right for her, giving us perspective on a shorter length. While she felt it performed well in the flotation and playfulness categories, earning 5’s in both, her scores lacked slightly in torsional stiffness and versatility. This makes sense in that this ski is eager to get into areas of the mountain that enable freeride maneuvers, where it can show off its quickness and poppiness. As we mentioned earlier, if you’re looking for a super stiff ski, this one might not be for you. Her response was “Love this kind of surfy style. Super smooth gliding and great control hopping around the thicker stuff.” Micheline Lemay skied on the 168 and loved the length. Her overall takeaway was “This ski felt very stable but pretty stiff- I was on hard pack and it made me work I bit but it felt good and stable- also not as much side cut as I’m used to- but a fun ski for sure.” Another piece of feedback that highlights the softness of this ski, which when put in the right conditions, it will be a blast.

If you’re someone who loves bopping around in the park and really anywhere on the mountain where you can show off some freestyle behavior, the Black Crows Camox Birdie is a distinctly playful ski. Though it may not provide the highest level of stiffness, it will still be strong underfoot and versatile across the rest of the mountain.