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The Scores (out of 10)
- Overall Score: 7.52
- Rank: #4
- dzٲپDz:7.5
- Playfulness: 8.08
- Responsiveness: 7.5
- Quickness: 8
- Crud Performance: 6.75
- Stability at Speed: 6.83
- Forgiveness: 7.92
- Versatility: 7.75
The Specs
- Price: $799
- Lengths: 169, 176, 182, 188
- Dimensions: 136-110-128
- Radius: 19.5 (182cm)
- Level: Intermediate, Advanced
In a Nutshell
- Pros: Playfulness (#5), Forgiveness (#1)
- Cons: Crud Performance (#10), Stability at Speed (#12)
If you describe your skiing as spreading butter on warm toast, look no further than The Slacker. A soft, nimble, energetic ski, this is the ski for the powder-hunter looking for playful hits on the backside of bumps and hidden freshies in the trees. The overall sentiment towards this ski: Whether exploring resorts or the backcountry, this ski will help make the mountains your playground. Go off the beaten path, friends; that is its happy place.
Related: These pro tips make skiing powder less exhausting and more fun
“The Slacker is for the experienced skier who wants to ski fast on variable terrain and powder without working too hard,” said tester and Jackson Hole backcountry fiend Lily Krass. “If you get too lazy, the tails feel a little hard to get around, but otherwise, this ski is forgiving, and the edge hold is fantastic for a ski this fat.”
Tester Otto Gibbons says this is the ski to take if you are skiing with your buddy for the first time and don’t know their ability level. “Fun ski if they rip, easy ski if they don’t,” he said. “I could hand this to many people and know it wouldn’t hurt them in any way. I was surprised by how fun it was in variable snow conditions.”
Read more: Learn about how J Skis The Slacker stacked up against the competition
Whether you’re cruising through a sunny afternoon or want to rise to the occasion on a big storm day, this ski will meet you there. And if you’re getting into skiing powder, too, you’ll love how these feel.
The aspen wood core with maple stringers combined with a four-directional fiberglass layup makes this lightweight and playful ski easy to engage. Carbon stringers keep the ski’s weight to 1,910 g while adding that extra pop this ski is known for. Testers say it’s best mounted and skied dead center.
“If you don’t know what’s happening with the variable side cut, it might feel wandery, but once you set it on edge, it does what it should,” says Elyse Schreiber. “Get it in deeper snow and watch it shine.”
“J Skis nailed what they were after for this aki: Namely, anyone can hop aboard and drive, bend, and edge and just have a good day skiing,” said tester Brady Newton, a former World Cup ski racer based in Utah. “There still is a lot left on the table for high-end performance, but they take the trade-off, and it works.”