Armada’s Norwalk is surprisingly easy to handle in most terrain, especially groomers, and especially at higher speeds, with an easy turn initiation that made it fun to ski. It slarves very well, which  is wonderful if you get behind or ahead on a turn and want a second to suss out your next move, and is a ski we recommend for younger rippers who want to treat every day on the lifts like a big day (whether there’s new snow or not).

While it powers through crud our testers said it felt unstable in the powder, where it was slower edge to edge and shied away from making short turns. In fact if you aren’t attacking the mountain on this ski, it can feel like a bit of a battleship, waiting for you to get up to speed so you can really leave a wake. Get it in a big arc and leave it in a big arc, but looks elsewhere in this review for more versatility.