Dynafit

Baltoro Ski

Versatility's the name of your game, so you and the Dynafit Baltoro Ski are a perfect one-two punch. Sitting squarely in the middle of Dynafit's freeride-to-ski-running spectrum, lighter than the Manaslu but burlier than the Nanga Parbat, the Baltoro is a pure-bred tourer, solid enough to handle your local sidecountry lines and light enough to take on fast-and-light expeditions.

To meet the needs of hardcore mountaineers, Dynafit constructed the Baltoro with a poplar and ash Ride Core for easy skinning and smooth skiing, but reinforced it with fiberglass and carbon to give it enough backbone to handle serious descents in tough terrain where falling would be a seriously bad idea. It's been firmed up further with a full-length sidewall construction, which resists torsion and stands up to rocks, ice, and the general beating that skis can take on long expeditions.

Snow conditions tend to be a crapshoot when you're heading into serious alpine environments, but the Baltoro features an early-rise Scoop Rocker that's designed to glide over uneven snow but retain nearly full-length contact when laid on its side, so you don't have to sacrifice edge hold to have a versatile ski for serious ice, corn, and surprise pow stashes. It's also got a dual-radius sidecut, which makes it easy to adjust your turn shapes without feeling like you're fighting your skis, and a sintered graphite base that holds wax and stays fast, so you can cut loose when you're home free and enjoying some big, sweeping turns. There are Dynafit-skin-compatible Speedskin attachments at the tip and tail, too, saving you hassle when you're gearing up in the morning.