Groomers
My first groomer experience on the All Mountains was less than wonderful. Targhee had just undergone a dry spell and a freeze / thaw cycle that left everything icy and bumped up. An inch or so of fresh that fell during the day made everything look better, but underneath that thin blanket, the snow was decidedly unpleasant.
I dropped on to a familiar groomer and immediately felt uncomfortable. The All Mountain did not feel very damp, and combined with its stiff flex, the ski felt very skitterish. Every time I tried to arc a big, high-speed turn, I felt like the skis were going to chatter right off my feet.
After two runs, however, I adjusted my style to the ski, and the All Mountain responded very well to high-energy, short-radius turns in these firm conditions. It takes very little effort to initiate a turn, and it’s very easy to work the ski back and forth, as long as you make sure to stay on top of the ski (and don’t start skiing / steering from the back seat).
A few days later, the groomers had softened up and were much smoother. In these conditions, the All Mountain was a blast. I was able to lay down a powerful edge on the soffer corduroy, and felt comfortable going very fast on wide-open, steep pitches.
Overall, if you’re looking for an all-mountain ski that really excels on groomers, there are narrower, heavier, damper options that will suite you better. But if you are generally skiing soft groomers, or you’re willing to put up with a less stable ski in firmer conditions (and make shorter-radius turns), the All Mountain does fine.
Crud
Here again, I found the All Mountain performed much better in softer conditions. In tracked-out, day-old to week-old snow, it’s very easy to drive fast if you stay over the tips and are willing to give a little more input to keep everything tracking.
With such a light swing weight, the All Mountain rewards the skier who turns around or hops over bumps and clumps of snow rather than trying to charge straight through them. I found myself looking at terrain with new eyes on the All Mountain. Instead of straight lining through zones I started seeking out little gaps, taps, and jibs. The blend of a relatively light weight and a stiffer flex pattern make the All Mountain more fun for this style of skiing than anything I’ve been on in recent memory.
In firmer conditions, it’s possible to carve through crud, but it required much more effort than a damper, heavier ski, and I never felt as comfortable at higher speeds in firm, bumpy conditions.
I would hark back to the introduction here, there are heavier skis in this waist category that perform much better in crud and firm conditions than the All Mountain, and if your brand all mountain skiing features a chairlift, they may be a better choice. However, if you (like me) want a ski you can walk uphill on, that is still fun in crud (and doesn’t feel like a super lightweight touring ski in less than perfect conditions) the All Mountain does a fine job.
In the Air
Given its weight and pretty centered mount point, the All Mountain is a blast in the air. It’s very easy to spin and flip, although its stiffer tips don’t make for easy butters. The All Mountain felt very stable on landings, and especially when landing in crud, the ski just begs you to stomp hard. However, those stiff tails aren’t so forgiving on backseat landings, much to the chagrin of my shins. In other words, stay forward on this ski and its tips will support you. Get in the back seat, and the All Mountain will remind you (painfully) not to ski like a gaper.
Scott Nelson is reviewing the park-oriented Kitten Factory Razor 95, but my time on the All Mountain left me intrigued by its big brothers, the Kitten Factory Razor 105 and 115. If they can combine the snappiness and light weight of the All Mountain with a slightly more playful shape and flex, they could be incredibly versatile skis for more freestyle-oriented skiers.
Who’s It For?
Kitten Factory calls the All Mountain a “perfect one ski quiver,” and if you value a lightweight ski over a damp ski, that’s right on the money. If I was looking for a ~105mm-wide one ski quiver and planning on skiing exclusively in the resort, I’d pass on the All Mountain for something heavier and more versatile in firm conditions, like The Metal from J Skis.
On the other end of the spectrum, the All Mountain is not as light as something like the Line Sick Day Tourist, or the Volkl BMT 109, but I personally wouldn’t be tempted to mount alpine bindings on either of those skis for everyday inbounds use.
For a more centered skier who’s looking for one ski in this width that can hold its own inbounds without being a total chore on the skin track as well, the Kitten Factory All Mountain sits at the top of my current list of recommendations.
Bottom Line
I came away very impressed by the Kitten Factory’s All Mountain. It truly is an “all mountain” ski that strikes a good balance between skin track comfort and variable conditions performance, and I can vouch that this ski makes sense either with a dedicated alpine binding or a tech binding.
But while the All Mountain works very well as a soft-conditions inbounds ski, I think it really comes into its own as a “50/50” resort / backcountry ski for more upright skiers who dislike skis with set-back, traditional mount points.
NEXT: ROCKER PROFILE PICS