The Black Crows Captis holds a special place in our hearts in term of being a fun-loving and playful all-mountain ski. The Captis gets a refresh for 2023, making it more twin-tipped in terms of shaping, and combining a full sidewall construction for grip and energy. Overall, the ski is more fun in terms of shaping, but also more business-like when it comes to the build techniques. Still at 90 mm underfoot, the skis have a versatile shape and style that’s totally conducive to all-mountain skiing as well as freestyle fun. Built with a full poplar wood core and fiberglass laminates, the construction is quite simple, but what they do with the shape and profile make a big difference when it comes to the overall character and personality. Tip and tail rocker with a bit of taper make for a fun-loving experience that skiers of a wide range of abilities will truly enjoy.
ROCKER PROFILE
Rocker / Camber / Rocker
CORE MATERIALS
ABS Sidewalls
PREFERRED TERRAIN
All Mountain, Groomers, Park
Dave Hatoff skied the 178 and noted it was just right for him. Versatility and well-roundedness shine through with the scores, as Dave gave all 3’s to the ski right down the line. Dave notes that “The Captis would be an ideal ski for an intermediate or advanced skier who likes a directional twin that skis the entire mountain. Versatile, approachable and with plenty of pop in the turns, these skis have a quick edge to edge feel and would be an ideal one ski quiver for the east.” Chris McClelland also skied the 178 and found it to be short. Chris has about 6 inches or so on Dave, so it’s not surprising, and I suppose we need to get Chris the 184—he'd like that a lot better. Regardless, we still see a top score of 5 out of 5 for playfulness, with 4’s for overall impression, versatility, torsional stiffness, edge hold, quickness, maneuverability, and stability. It’s likely that the new full sidewall build has something to do with that high stability score, even in the shorter length for Chris. “The Captis surprised me with how stiff they made the tip and tail for this year's model. They felt very pretty stable and only started to chatter and scrape at higher speeds. This is definitely a more all mountain freeride focused ski and I could see this being pretty decent in the park. I think this ski felt best in moguls and was very quick to transition so bumps felt like a breeze. This is definitely a ski for advanced and expert all-mountain skiers.”
On the 184, Hans von Briesen scored 5’s out of 5 for overall impression, playfulness, quickness, and maneuverability. He called the sizing spot on, noting that “The Captis took me by surprise and I left it out there as possibly the new favorite park ski. It felt jibby and playful but had enough in it to really absorb hard carves and jumps well enough. It's like a new pair of socks feeling.” There are quite a few skis in this low to mid-90's range that do a great job at making park skiing and all-mountain performance blend and blur, and the Captis seems to be the new kid on the block in that respect. Bob St.Pierre found his 184 to be the correct length, but wished for a little longer. He gave the ski 5’s out of 5 for overall impression, versatility, playfulness, quickness, and maneuverability. Bob was a big fan of the previous iteration of the Captis, so it’s nice to get his feedback on the updated model for sure: “This ski is my jam. Even though the catalog is pointing it more to mid-range skiers, I really like the simplicity and fun-loving attitude. You don't have to push it too hard, although you can, and that makes for an objectively pleasing ski experience. This is slightly beefier than the older version, and that's a good thing for us skiers in the Clydesdale division. Fantastic ski in the 90mm range that can truly do it all. Awesome in the bumps and trees and sides of the trail. Certainly, a park/freestyle attitude here, but that's not all it can do. Kind of like a narrower Camox, and that's a good thing for those of us who prefer skinnier skis.”
The updated Black Crows Captis should be on any playful all-mountain skier’s list of “must try” skis for this upcoming year. With the beefier build and more powerful feel, the Captis taps into a bit more performance than it did in the past, and that’s really nice for skiers who want a quick and playful ski, but don’t want to sacrifice all-mountain performance.
