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The Scores (out of 10)
- Overall Score: 7.21
- Rank: #10
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- Playfulness: 7.33
- Responsiveness: 8.33
- Quickness: 6.89
- Crud Performance: 7
- Stability at Speed: 8.11
- Forgiveness: 7
- Versatility: 7.22
The Specs
- Price: $1,000
- Lengths: 182, 190
- Dimensions: 136-108-126
- Radius: 21.7 (182cm)
- Level: Advanced, Expert
In a Nutshell
- Pros: Responsiveness (#3), Stability at Speed (#3)
- Cons: Forgiveness (#9), Flotation (#15)
If you’re a confident intermediate skier or find yourself at the top of the food chain at your home hill, you have to make an effort to have a bad time on the Declivity 108 Ti. While you will need a slightly more centered stance to ski the front of this ski—it’s a big-girl-pants ski—once you find the sweet spot, you can take it anywhere and everywhere for a good time.
Thanks to a caruba wood core, the Declivity 108 Ti is relatively easy to engage (if you’re a strong skier) and stable when laid over to carve. A softer flex in the tip keeps the ski damp, while Titnal banding in the core offers plenty of stability underfoot and through the tail.
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“This ski is not a ski for the light-hearted,” said tester Nick Loomans of Park City, Utah. “I was surprised how well the Delicivity 108 Ti handles variable terrain given its stiffness. It charges but didn’t buck me around.”
At 108mm underfoot, the Delivity 108 Ti isn’t for the deepest of days (it scored 7 out of 10 for Flotation), but that makes it a great everyday ski for the West or when a few inches fall unexpectedly after lunch. It handles remarkably well on piste and still has plenty of float. It’s a powder ski through and through, but we scored these sticks high after running them through chalk, old soft snow in the trees, and even the late afternoon crud (but why take it there?)
Read more: Learn about how the Declivity 108 Ti stacked up against the competition
“The Declivity performed where I expected it to, and then it was faster on the edge-to-edge transition than I expect from a 108mm waisted ski,” said tester Otto Gibbons, hardgoods manager at Sturtevant’s Ski Shop in Bellevue, Wash. “It’s happy to ski everything you throw at it and won’t talk back to you.”
The shape of the Declivity 108 Ti is in line with the rest of Armada’s fleet—the wider the ski, the longer the tip rocker. Yet the Declivity line is more directional than most of Armada’s skis because there’s not much tail rocker on these motorboats.
I love the well-built platform and smooth, even flex. We found this ski exceptionally responsive and precise. Luke Larsen, the owner of Salt Lake City’s Lifthouse Ski Shop, agrees. “This ski made subpar snow fun,” he said. “It’s a Swiss Army knife that’s great in various conditions.”
Still, access to soft snow and country-song-caliber wide open spaces are where these ponies want to run. Perfectly at home in the air as on the ground, we don’t have too many critiques of this powder ski, but it’s worth noting they require a lot of work to tame.
“I’m at home skiing a 193mm ski in powder, but these felt incredibly long coming from the longer contact point in the tail to the back tip,” noted tester Brennan Rubie, former U.S. World Cup alpine ski racer.” Those who typically ski the longer side of the available models might consider stepping down a size if they would like something more forgiving. “If you’ve got energy in the tank,” said Rubie, “these skis—an advanced-only powder ski—absolutely rip. I want a pair.”