“Women don’t need another ski designed by a bunch of bros,” says Mike Waesche—who is himself a total bro. The Breckenridge skier founded Rocky Mountain Underground (RMU) so he could geek out on ski designand construction, and since its establishment in 2008, the company has racked up 28 editors’ picksfor its planks. But RMU didn’t offer anything that was optimized for women, and Waesche didn’t want to be guilty of producing yet another option that had just been “shrinked and pinked.”
So in 2015, he put out a call on social mediaaskingwomento describe their ideal skisand the problems they were having with the ones they already owned. Then Waesche and Chris Glynn, who also collaborates on RMU ski designs, started tinkering.
The 20 women who responded to RMU’s call for opinions represented a range of locations and skier types: some were weekenderswith intermediate-level skills, while others were professionalpatrollers and guides. Most shared a desire for a hard-charging powder ski that could also shred groomers—so RMU set out to make plankswith maximum float and minimum width.
“One major problem that women were havingis that it takes more effort to get a superwide ski up on edge,” says Glynn. When creating thethe women’s , he and Waesche built more rocker into the tail of their prototypical women’s ski to cantthe whole platform back in deep snow. But that highly rockered tail made the overall flex too soft, so the duo stiffened the ski to compensate. “It’s actually stiffer than our men’s big-mountain ski,” says Waesche.
That goes against everything the industry has historically said women want in skis.For yearsski manufacturers have assumed that women’s skis should be lighter, softer versions of the men’s models. But RMU was willing to start their women’s ski design from scratchrather than using any men’s version as a template, andthat approach let them challenge common assumptions—like the one positing thatwomen want an easier, less stiff ride. “We wanted to have a women’s-specific ski, not just a man’s ski with a foam core to make it lighter,” explains Waesche.
ѱ’sھԲcreation, the women’s Valhalla 104, won industry awards and buyers’ praise when it hit market in 2017. RMU also offers a narrower, 95-millimeterversion of the Valhalla, and this year, it made the 104 even better: aredesign gave it additional beechwood stringersand a new tip profile that lengthened its rocker and lessened the underfoot camber to make the ski more playful than before.
I tested the 2019 Valhalla 104 at Steamboat, Colorado, this winterand recruited a friend to try it out at Jackson Hole in Wyomingand Big Sky in Montana. We both loved the ski’sferocious, never-say-die edge hold on hardpack. The Valhalla excels at arcing big turns down groomers, where it feels superpowerful and damp. That’s because its core incorporates a fair bit of rubber to absorb harsh vibrations, and its dense hardwoods (poplar and beech) also help kill chatter. No speed seems too fast for these boards (though the resort’s ski patrol may deemotherwise).
And of course they soar in deep snow. RMU designers definitely coaxed maximum flotation from the 104-millimeterwaist width, so not only do the Valhallas charge through untracked powder, but they also skip easily across cut-up snow and trenches that can buck softer skis.
The Valhalla excels at arcing big turns down groomers, where it feels superpowerful and damp.
They don’t love to make truly short-radius turns, though my cohort and I issued slightly different reports on just how maneuverable they could feel. I found them to be surprisingly easy to smear, given their weight (they’re heavier than some powder planks);for me, flipping them around trees and moguls felt fast and effortless. My friend, meanwhile, struggled to make them turn short, and she’sa stronger skier than I am.
I suspect that boot placement had something to do with our differing experiences: adjusting the binding to her boot nudged her a few millimeters forward on the ski, while I stood a smidgen farther back, which may have placed my weight over the spot where these skis turn easiest. Even so, they’re better suited to broad, open bowls than congested glades. After all, RMU made the Valhalla 104 to be a big-mountain charger—for hard-chargingwomen.