One of the main things that stands out about the 2024 Elan Ripstick 106 Black Edition is just how smooth it is for the amount of energy—especially at 106 mm underfoot. While that’s kind of a long way to go about saying that this ski is wide and versatile, it has to be skied to be appreciated. Sure, it’s pretty wide to be calling it an all-mountain ski as it certainly flirts with the freeride realm, but it’s hard to argue that it doesn’t fit in either. The mesh of attributes in this ski are plentiful, giving it a unique personality that’s rarely found in the ski industry these days. The light energy of the ski is great for advanced and expert skiers who know how to carve a ski, creating a wonderful overall experience from soft snow to firm. By taking the technology to the next level in terms of sophistication and structural capabilities, the Ripstick 106 Black is at the pinnacle of modern ski design and construction.

Built with a tubelite wood core, the ski gets a poppy and energetic start. While it’s not the densest of woods, it’s all about what Elan puts in it and on top of it that makes the ski stand out. By utilizing quad rod technology, Elan puts the traditional dual-carbon tube inlays into the core to strengthen and stiffen the ski. They then add two more rods to the center of the forebody and the middle of the tail in order to crank up the volume on this ski to the next level. We talk a lot about how putting carbon, and other materials, in a 3-dimensional format supercharges their characteristics and now that Elan is using four of these tubes, it makes the 106 Black really pop. In addition, the ski benefits from a longer and wider carbon line laminate that sits full-width underfoot and covers the inside halves of the ski from tip to tail. Since the skis are built in an asymmetric manner, this allows Elan to put more emphasis on the inside and downhill edge while leaving the uphill edge more playful and flexible. This creates a smoother feeling overall without jeopardizing the edge grip and overall stability of the ski. In the 180, the ski sits on the scale at 1900 grams, which while approaching the 2000-gram mark without metal, still feels relatively light mainly due to the energy.

We can’t help but think that on paper, a 106 is too wide for all-mountain skiing, but on snow, the reality is on the different side of the spectrum. This thing feels very stable and agile for the width. Sure, the Ripstick 88 is quicker and more precise, but one thing we’ve found about carbon-powered skis like this is that wider is sometimes better because there’s more stuff in the ski overall. This makes it sturdier from tip to tail, and with the build that they put in, the carbon tubes certainly lend a lot of strength to the mix. It is wide, though, pairing a 143 mm tip and a 120 mm tail to generate an 18.1-meter turn radius, making it a pretty clean turning ski for a variety of conditions and terrain.Similar to how the build relies on asymmetry, the profile follows suit. The Amphibio Rocker profileputs more emphasis on the rocker on the outside and camber on the inside, giving the ski that smooth and subtle edge to edge ease. There’s decent taper in the shovel, making it float really well and stay on top of the snow, certainly in the initiation phase. The tail is a bit more business-like, offering less rocker and subtle taper to make the ski feel somewhat playful while retaining on-trail character.

Advanced and expert skiers will be able to glean the most performance out of these skis, and they do become more active and lively at higher speeds, so that may be somewhat of a barrier for less aggressive skiers. This isn’t a huge deal at the end of the day, especially since it offers a large spectrum of performance attributes in a variety of conditions and terrain. If you haven’t gotten a chance to ski on these amazing Black Edition Ripsticks from Elan, please do so at your earliest convenience.