In recent years, we’re seeing a resurgence of narrower all-mountain skis, and this Reliance 82 Ti is a perfect example. More versatile than a system frontside carving ski, yet still with strong torsional stiffness and excellent carving performance, skis like the Reliance 82 Ti provide top notch performance with a bit more of a user-friendly feel than those heavier, often-stiffer frontside skis. We’ve been clamoring manufacturers to put more emphasis into these categories for years now, and we’re thrilled to see more options. Interestingly, the market seems slower to catch up or catch on to how good these skis can be, so despite their existence, you still don’t see many on the slopes. We’re here to help change that as we genuinely feel these skis provide excellent performance to a lot of skiers. Spend most of your time on groomed slopes? Check. Enjoy making a variety of turns? Check. Don’t want to be completely worn out by one day of skiing, but don’t want to sacrifice performance? Triple check.

So how does it all work? The Reliance 82 Ti uses the same ingredients as the 92 and 102, it’s just narrower, making it a superior carving ski. At its core is a Caruba wood core, an interesting choice for a ski that’s designed to carve, but certainly part of why it’s so good. Caruba is lighter and less dense than most wood cores, which gives the Reliance 82 Ti a lighter and less fatiguing feel overall. Of course, using a lightweight core is taking away some stiffness and power, but Armada counters that with their Articulated Titanal Banding technique. This construction uses a sheet of Titanal that’s cut into slits in the forebody of the ski, specifically longitudinal slits. This allows the forebody and tip of the ski to twist, or articulate, more easily, allowing for smoother and easier turn initiation. The rest of the metal doesn’t have these slits and runs the full length and full width of the ski, meaning that despite smoother turn initiation than most skis, you’re still benefitting from excellent edge grip throughout the rest of the turn. It gives the skis a smooth, easy, intuitive, and confidence-inspiring feel that comes through for a huge range of ability levels. Everyone from intermediates to expert skiers can benefit from and enjoy the performance of the Reliance 82 Ti.

Shape is fairly straight-forward. The key here is the width. 82 mm underfoot feels quick edge to edge and highly responsive. When we bring up those system carving skis, realistically 82 mm isn’t much wider. In fact, from a lot of brands, you will see system skis even wider than this, so in a lot of ways, we are in a frontside-focused width range here. What makes the Reliance 82 TI so cool, and other skis in this category, is that it’s a flat ski, not an integrated system binding. This means, regardless of what binding you choose, you’re going to have a lower stand height and a lower center of gravity. The big benefit of that is it’s increasing the ski’s versatility by giving you a better connection to the snow as well as a more natural flex pattern underfoot. With this width as a flat ski, you still get excellent carving performance, but you get far better versatility. Moguls, short turns on the sides of the trail, and even some softer snow and tree skiing is all in play on the Reliance 82 Ti. While it’s not going to float like a powder ski, it’s highly versatile for its width.

Who should choose the Reliance 82 Ti? Skiers who spend a lot of time on groomers, who value edge grip and responsiveness, but want some versatility too. While you’re likely not going to take them off trail too often, it’s nice to have the ability to do so. It’s also nice being able to make a variety of turn shapes. If you want to be locked into a certain radius arc and want that race-like feel, go with one of those dedicated system carving skis we discussed. If you want more versatility, however, pick up a Reliance 82 Ti.