Curated Ski Experts Brandon Westburg and Hayden Wright tested the 2023 Black Crows Atris skis at Powder Mountain in Utah this past spring. Check out how they performed in the carving, freestyle, and freeride categories, but don’t forget, every skier is different and what works for one may not work for all. If you have any questions on the Atris or would like recommendations on what skis would be ideal for your needs, reach out to a Ski Expert here on Curated.

A quick note that we're not sponsored by any brands, so all of these reviews are completely unbiased.

Brand Claims

What does Black Crows claim about the board? [Hayden] Black Crows claims that the Atris is everybody's all-mountain ski. Intermediates, advanced skiers, and if you're a beginner skier looking to progress, consider this as far as big mountain riding. It's not the biggest ski underfoot, so I think that's where Black Crows is trying to get other people into skiing more big mountain style. They have an awesome shape and design here to kind of help you progress, but they claim it's every man's big mountain ski.

Overall Impressions

What is your overall impression? [Brandon] The Black Crow Atris was overall a ton of fun to ski. It was a little playful and fun as well. With a 20-meter turning radius, it wasn't too big to move edge to edge quickly. So, we did smear some turns. A 20-meter turning radius here doesn't mean it's too much to create those smaller turns. We still had fun smearing it around, doing the smaller radius turns, and skiing it at low and higher speeds. All around, this ski was a lot of fun.

[Hayden] We weren't punching through too much, but my overall impression is this ski is playful and fun. The biggest change up this year for the Atris is that they went down from 108 millimeters of waist width to 105. And honestly, I think that was a great move because the 105 waist width paired with the poplar wood core and the fiberglass makes this the ultimate playful resort ski. The 105-millimeter waist was awesome when hitting the little jibs. Out of bounds, it would be all right. Since it is a little skinnier than its predecessor with its 105 waist, you might want to wait till those spring days to take it outside of the resort. I don't know if I would take it into the park, but the Black Crows Atris is a ski to consider if you're out buttering or if you're hitting jumps left and right

What is its flex? [Brandon] I wouldn't call it the stiffest ski in its category. There's no metal in the core, but I was still surprised by how much pop this thing has. I really enjoyed it. In terms of my personal skiing style, I like a ski that's a bit more playful and flexible. So, I was a really great match for the Atris, and I had a ton of fun out there today.

[Hayden] I'd give it a medium flex profile. As I said previously, there's no metal. It has a poplar wood core paired with fiberglass layers. You get a pretty predictable flex throughout the ski, which is great. It's not the stiffest ski, but it's not a full noodle like some other skis.

The Atris is right in the middle. That being said, if you're a little bit bigger of a rider than me, you may be able to flex it a little bit more. But besides the medium flex profile, it's a great ski all around.

Carving

How does it carve? [Brandon] I did get to carve the Black Crow Atris on some steep stuff as well as some flatter terrain, and I found it to be a pretty good carver. I wouldn't call it the most stable or damp carving ski. With a 20-meter turning radius, I got to ski it with a smaller turn radius and some wider turns on various terrain. From steeper stuff to less angle and a little more mellow terrain, this ski was overall really fun.

[Hayden] It's not the best ski for carving, but it's not the worst. I'd put this in the middle of the pack for carving. Especially for resort groomers, when they're soft, the ski does a great job. Regarding the carving aspect, there was a lot of camber underfoot. There is no metal in this ski. It has a poplar wood core paired with fiberglass layers. There are softer skis out there. This is why I think Black Crow claims this to be every man's big mountain ski, but for carving, it does the job.

Any chatter in the ski? [Brandon] When skiing fast on some steeper and firmer terrain, I did think there was a bit of chatter in the tip. There is quite a bit of a rocker profile towards the top of the ski, so there's not quite as much ski in contact with the snow that I would want for great carving performance. As conditions softened up, this became a way more fun carving ski and laid trenches on the groomers. It was pretty sweet. Overall, some main takeaways from carving are it was not extremely damp. It was fun and playful. But I would say it's a great carving ski if you're looking for a fun and playful ski.

[Hayden] If you throw on the brakes quickly, you might notice a little bit of chatter. These guys chattered a little bit, but not too much. But for being 108 millimeters underfoot, they did surprisingly well on the hard groomers.

How is it at speed? [Brandon] I thought that the Black Crow Atris was just fine at speed. As just previously mentioned, it's not the dampest ski I've ever skied, having no metal in the core whatsoever. But I had a fun time at higher speeds and lower speeds as well. Was bombing it down some groomers, was super fun.

Freestyle

Any playfulness in the ski? [Brandon] The Atris is a super poppy and playful ski. We got into the bordercross park with plenty of side hits today, and I had a ton of fun on this. A fun mix between a freeride and an all-mountain ski, in my opinion, that you should feel confident landing switch, doing some threes, or catching some air.

[Hayden] Brendan and I both got to try some tail and nose butters. The lack of metal in the ski helps for pressing on the tips of the tails. It’s definitely a playful ski.

How is it skiing switch? [Brandon] It is a full twin tip, as you can see on the tail here. So skiing switch, I felt very confident. Got to bang out plenty of turns at higher and lower speeds skiing switch. Felt very stable, contrary to a little bit of groomer performance there.

How is stability on landings? [Brandon] Plenty of stability on the landing. Overall, I had a great experience catching air on this ski.

Freeride

How is this ski for freeriding? [Brandon] Being 105 underfoot, this ski is a great blend of an all-mountain and a freeride ski. Totally designed for you if you love catching air, popping off everything you possibly can on the mountain. Plenty of ski underfoot to enjoy some powder as well. Overall, I would say it's a pretty good ski for my skiing style in the freeride realm. Very fun to ski. I had a great day on it.

How would this ski perform on a big pow day? [Hayden] It is only 105 millimeters underfoot. It won't be the first ski I'll grab out of my garage to go out onto a pow day. So medium to lower score on powder; it'll hold its own, but it's not a specific pow ski. This is more or less like your everyday ski but slightly on the wider side. The early rise in the tip and tail helps the ski stay up on the snow for having a skinnier waist. The Black Crow went from a 108 in this model down to a 105. They were trying to help the ski become a little bit more nimble by dropping a bit of weight because there's much less material in the ski. It's a skinnier pow ski. However, if you're looking for one ski to do it all, check out the Atris if you don't mind having a bit of a wider ski.

What terrain are these skis good for? [Hayden] The Black Crow Atris is an awesome resort jamming ski. You could take it in and out of the bounds gates. It has a 105 waist width, so it'll hold its own off-piste. But if you're looking for that resort ski that you don't really know what it's going to do that day, consider the Atris because it's got that early rise in the tip and tail, which helps it perform in powder, even though it is only 105 millimeters wide. So if you're looking for one ski at the resort and don't mind having a wider underfoot ski, consider the Atris.

Recommendations

Who would you recommend this ski to? [Brandon] So there is a wide range of skiers who would do just fine on this ski. You don't have to be an advanced skier by any means to enjoy the Black Crow Atris. I'd recommend this ski for a very wide array of ability levels and terrain as well. It is a pretty versatile all-mountain ski for its waist width.

[Hayden] It's not super stiff, so if you are a beginner, you could jump on it, and it won’t be too much ski for you. However, since the width is a little wider than some beginner skis, I recommend this for intermediate to advanced riders.

Who would you not recommend this ski to? [Brandon] If you like a ski that's extremely damp and stable at top speed, I would not recommend the Black Crow Atris. It has more of a fun and playful feel at top speed. It has a little bit of chatter, but nothing too worrisome, there’s plenty of stability when reaching those top speeds.

If you are on the fence looking for skis, you're not sure what ski is best for you, or you are looking for the right pair in your budget, reach out to Brandon, Hayden, or any other Ski Expert here on Curated for free, personalized recommendations. They'd love talking skis with you to get you on the right setup for you. Note that the 2024 version of the Black Crows Atris is linked below - same tech, just different graphic: