Black Diamond’s Carbon Megawatt is designed to hike as fast and lightly as possible to get you to the fresh powder goods you’re searching for. As such, this ski would–and will–test better in our AT category where we will place it next year. In a lift-served test, while its superior float and increased fun factor when you load the tail and just surf in powder, earned it high marks, hard snow did this ski no favors.

Bottomline: rock this ski where it rocks the hardest, earning fresh turns.