Best Powder Skis of 2025

Finally, there’s the question of weight. Lighter powder skis are easier to turn, and generally more playful. They’re also easier to tour and earn your turns on. But, when the snow gets chopped up and more variable, lighter skis are harder to drive, and will get deflected easier. So it’s important to be realistic about your conditions. If you’re walking uphill to earn perfect untracked powder turns back down, you’ll be happier on a much lighter ski than someone who’s planning on skiing powder in the morning and soft chop in the afternoon, inbounds, on the same pair of skis. For an in-depth breakdown of ski weights, check out this article.

But no matter how you answer all of those questions, this truth remains: Powder skiing is fun. Powder skis, whether aspiration or realistic, are one of the biggest investments in good, clean fun you can make. So make your choices and pray for snow!

About Powder’s Best Ofs

Our Best Of lists are collections of the skis, boots, outerwear, and other gear that stood out to us while testing. If you want to learn more about how reviews work at Powder, we’re very transparent about our process. 

These lists are constantly growing and evolving as we try new gear. If you’ve got a favorite piece of equipment that you think we should write about, let us know here. And, if you represent a brand or company and think your gear deserves a writeup, we’d love to get in touch. 

Best All-Around Powder Ski: Salomon QST X

• Waist Width: 116 mm
• Weight (184 cm): 1900 g
• Best for: All-around powder skiing

Read Powder’s Full Review Here

Salomon’s QST X is a pillow-smashing, deep snow freeride weapon, and turned out to be our favorite powder ski of the year. As the backcountry-friendly counterpart to the popular QST Blank, the new QST X is a shockingly nimble, floaty, and fun powder freeride ski that breaks the mold of what a typical “athlete” ski might make you think of. With a very surfy twin-rocker shape, 116mm waist, and a very damp ride, it’s an excellent choice for deep days where cliff hucks, pillows, and maching through tight trees are on the menu.

At 1900 grams, these are on the heavier end of "light enough to warrant taking out on a long day", but thanks to some clever construction, they pair especially well with a lighter binding. Many of the Salomon team athletes seem to be taking advantage of this, mounting pin bindings for longer tours. The long turn radius means plenty of edge contact despite the pronounced rocker lines, making skinning surprisingly comfortable for this wide of a ski. 

The QST X’s versatility in deep snow is astounding, but it excels in catering to playful skiers looking to ski fast through technical terrain. Think subalpine pillows, trees, and chutes—you know, the kind of terrain many of us actually spend the winter riding in the backcountry. Inbounds, these are also a hoot, with predictable edge control on firmer surfaces, and unparalleled float and surfiness when things get deep under the chairlift. 

Best For Inbounds Pow Days and Playful Skiers: Völkl Revolt 114

• Waist Width: 114 mm
• Weight (184 cm): 2285 g
• Best for: Inbounds pow days, playful skiing

Read Powder’s full review of the Völkl Revolt 114

Völkl could have made another Revolt that shared the same character as the 121 and 104, just in another waist width. Instead they made something more capable and powerful that takes the Revolt line in an exciting new direction. 

The Revolt 114 feels like a film segment and Freeride World Tour ski, which unsurprisingly it has been under the feet of Völkl team athletes. With some serious built-in suspension, this ski will make you feel like a superhero–make any size turn anywhere, jump off anything, or just plow through it all. 

One thing to note is that the pedigree of the Revolt 114 is sort of wasted if you never push yourself to its top end. It won’t punish you for skiing with a more laid-back energy, but why buy a Ferrari only to drive it in second gear?

Best For Inbounds Pow Days and Directional Skiers: Blizzard Rustler 11

• Waist Width: 113 mm
• Weight (186 cm): 2100 g
• Best for: Inbounds pow days, directional skiing

Updated for 2024, the Blizzard Rustler 11 takes that same crud-busting big-mountain performance and brings it into a slightly more accessible package for riding all over the resort. These welcome high speeds in unpredictable snow, providing a solid platform for stomping big airs, and can pivot and slash through the soft stuff. 

The new version is still burly, but not so burly that only CrossFit champions can handle it. At 113mm underfoot, there’s plenty of float, and paired with the aggressive tip and tail rocker lines, the new Rustler 11 is a blast to ride through deep snow no matter the slope angle. 

The Rustler 11 is a great tool for lift-access backcountry and inbounds big-mountain skiing. If you’re the type of skier chasing Hollywood lines under the chair, big cliffs and high speeds in steep, dicey terrain, these will not disappoint. 

Best For Backcountry Freestyle: K2 Reckoner KF

• Waist Width: 114 mm
• Weight (184 cm): 2180 g
• Best for: jibbing on a powder day inbounds or backcountry

Long live the pro model ski! K2 delivers an innovative athlete-designed ski with their latest special-edition Reckoner KF. It’s a freestyle pow weapon straight from the mind of Karl Fostvedt that makes bouncing around in powder in all directions unbelievably fun. As one of the few athlete-designed pro-model skis available this year, it may be tempting to think that the Reckoner KF is a one-trick-pony only suitable for those of us with Fostvedt’s unique skill set.

While it certainly caters to high-energy freestyle powder skiing, it’s a remarkably approachable ski for mere mortals. Despite the long turn radius, it prefers short, powerful, slashy turns at speed. Even with a very soft flex, the carbon axial braid core construction provides both a damp ride and a trampoline-like amount of bounce and pop. A much-needed refresh from the industry’s vast selection of high-speed chargers, the Reckoner KF is focused on having fun, skiing familiar lines in a new way, and putting the freestyle back into freeskiing.

If you're a freestyle-minded skier, The Reckoner KF is an excellent tool both inbounds and deep in the backcountry. If you're looking to hit backcountry booters all day, land switch in pow, and make your favorite backcountry draining your own personal terrain park, Karl's got you covered. Slap a hybrid binding like the CAST Freetour or a Duke PT on these, and get ready for some serious backcountry airtime.

Best for Freeride Comp Skiers: Dynastar M Free 112

• Waist Width: 112 mm
• Weight (183 cm): 2200 g
• Best for: freeride competitions on a pow day (or skiing like it)

Dynastar’s freeride athlete team asked for competition specific ski for powder days, and this is what the French brand came up with. The new ski is a beefed-up version of the popular M-Free 108, designed for soft snow in big terrain. Surprisingly approachable for their size and stiffness, these skis really come alive when the pedal hits the metal, with stiff tails meant for stomping massive airs at high speeds. 

The damp character provides strong edge hold for confidence when skiing aggresively on a big face. While the twin rocker profile gives them a loose and more playful character on bottomless days, the M-Free 112 is an even better choice for ripping turns through chop and crud at when the ski area is already all tracked out. 

These would make a great daily driver in the PNW, California, or anywhere with heavy, wet snowpacks.

Best For the Deepest Day of Your Life: Line Bacon 122

• Waist Width: 122 mm
• Weight (185 cm): 2160 g
• Best for: The deepest mechanized days, and Japan

Big ski float good. Seriously, sometimes there isn’t that much to ski design and when the snow is soft and light, the Line Bacon 122 is a riot and proves to be unsinkable. It’s bouncy and playful in the pow and really will float no matter how deep it gets.

Line's new Bacon 122 is a blast from the past, echoing the era of super-fat, super-floppy pow skis that do nothing but bounce around in La Niña-level snowfall. This harkens back to the time of the legendary K2 Hellbent, with a 122mm waist width, a super-soft flex, and a nearly symmetrical sidecut and rocker profile. In other words, these skis look hilarious, and have such a ridiculous shape that they really are best reserved for the deepest days of your life.

We mentioned them in our Best Backcountry Skis of 2025, but these are best enjoyed with the help of a chairlift, snowmobile, snow cat, or helicopter so you can really just focus on the down. So take these to Coastal BC, Japan, or anywhere else a snorkel seems appropriate. 

Best For Blasting Through the Leftovers: Rossignol Sender Free 110

• Waist Width: 110 mm
• Weight (186 cm): 2200 g
• Best for: Blasting through the leftovers

Rossignol’s updated Sender Free 110 is a the little brother of the massive Sender Free 118. The 118 is much more of a specialized powder tool than the 110, but for inbounds blasting, we think the 110 better bridges the gap between high-speed crud-busting performance, playfulness in powder, and edge grip when things get nasty. 

These are the sticks we'd take out on a resort day when the snow came in a little heavier and wetter than expected, or got tracked out faster than it should have. Powder fever, am I right? These are absolute tanks when it comes to ripping through deep snow, and will keep you entertained all day long, even when things get messy.

Best For Pillows: Armada ARV/W 112

• Waist Width: 112 mm
• Weight (185 cm): 2100 g
• Best for: Bouncing around in pillows

The ARV/ARW 112 is a new waist width addition to Armada’s all-mountain freestyle lineup, replacing the existing 116mm version. Armada has the poppy, surfy twin-rocker profile dialed with this very playful resort pow ski, and they feel like a much evolved version of the venerable JJ.

These aren’t the stiffest or hardest-charging skis in the world, but that’s not really the point. Instead, they are a lot of fun navigating pillow stacks, hitting small cliffs, and bouncing around in all kinds of soft snow. As the latest iteration of Armada's trademark ski shape, the new ARV 112 (and the identical women’s ARW 112) show that constant, incremental improvement pays off when it comes to ski design. For freestyle-forward skiers that live somewhere with bountiful snow, the ARV 112 is an excellent daily driver for showing off all over the mountain.

Best For Low-Angle Backcountry Powder: Season Equipment Forma

• Waist Width: 118 mm
• Weight (183 cm): 2050 g
• Best for: Making low-angle powder skiing a blast

Here's a fact about powder skiing: most of the time, you're probably not skiing gnarly terrain in deep snow, especially if you're in the backcountry. It's just too dangerous. Facing that fact, it's important to recognize that low-angle powder skiing can be an absolute blast! Just find the skis that will make it fun. 

Season Equipment's Forma is just the tool for the job. With one of the most peculiar shapes we've ever seen from a ski, with a swallowtail and a super-wide tip, these are meant to surf and jib around in the deep stuff, and man are they a blast. The Forma's unique shape and soft flex pitches you back quite a bit, forcing the tip above the snow, and allowing you really lean into the ski and carve wide, graceful turns through pow. 

We love these equally well in the resort and as a powder touring setup, so don't be afraid to take them into the backcountry and lap your favorite low-angle tree runs. 

Check out the rest of our Best Ofs here:

Best Wide All Mountain Skis

Best Narrow All Mountain Skis

Best Backcountry Touring Skis

Best Crossover Boots

Best BOA Boots