Black Diamond has certainly stepped things up in the past couple of seasons. Their ski line is recognized as one of the best and most versatile lineups for alpine touring, telemark and resort skiers alike. While I’m still trying to get my grubby hands on a pair of the Black Diamond Zealot’s for testing, their all-new, flat-camber Megawatt ski is catching my eye.
This ski is built to be an inbounds ski on uber-deep or chunky days or as a dedicated cat ski or heli ski option for those who only ski in the deep stuff.
Word is these things simply charge the pow and crud like nobody’s business. And, because it’s not a true reverse-camber ski (really a flat camber ski with a rockered tip), it can still arc turns on the groomers without scaring the crap out of you–this makes them different from, say the K2 Pontoon. They are noticeably fatter than the Zealots… see below.
The sidecut (153 / 125 / 130) isn’t deep, but it is enough to produce rounded arcs on groomers while lapping the Tram at the Bird. And, they come in one length… 188cm. These boards are FAT and they are unique for sure. They are available now for $769 at Backcountry.com.
You can see the no-camber design and rockered tip below
Black Diamond Kilowatt, Verdict, Zealot and the new Megawatt Skis
A Seattle native, Jason developed a love for the outdoors and a thing for mountains. That infatuation continues as he founded
I’m loving my Kilowatts, but would like to try out some Megawatts too. I can’t tell from the pics whether it is a true twin (same height tip as tail) or if it’s directional.
Definitely directional. The tip is quite pronounced with a slightly upturned tail to reduce “hookiness” upon exiting the turn. I suppose you could ride switch inbounds on groomers, but who really wants to ride switch on such a fat pow monger anyway?
The “effective” length of the ski is really in the 170-175 cm range with a HUGE and slowly upturned tip. That’s the beauty of the design is in the tip’s ability to get you above everything–be it Utah blower or Cascade crud. Once the huge tip gets you on top, the sheer width of the ski and solid construction just allows you to power through anything (or so I’m told).
Looks to be a good Utah ski for dawn patrols & heli/cat trips.
The design of these skis is brilliant. For a telemarker this is it for soft conditions. The size and particularly the huge rockered tip are perfect for a free-heeler. One of the things a telemarker can experience is tip dive, when the back ski isn’t fully weighted in deep or just plan soft snow and it stops while the rest of you keeps going. this results in quite possibly the most disastrous and painful falls possible on snow. With so much height above the snow the tip will give a teleskier a much better chance of avoiding such calamity. This ski with the bomber bishop will most likely be the most bomber set up a telemarker could own for anything from deep powder to mashed potatoes too, as I’ve been told because it isn’t a reverse camber, relatively hard packed snow.
This ski has changed everything…… I have not had this much fun on a ski in a long time- if ever! I demoed this last week during some sick Wasatch storms, and cannot wipe the grin off my face. I skied the 188 mounted with the BD ’01 midstiff tele bindings. For the bios, I am 6 feet, 178lbs, and an expert skier. I found this ski to be incredibly responsive in powder of almost any depth, and incredibly fun in crud and broken-up snow conditions as the day wore on. I was curious to see how this ski would perform with a tele set-up, and if I could move the 188cm around (they are as large as water skis)! Needless to say, it exceeded all my expectations. With the rocker tip, it did not allow the back ski (in a tele turn) to dive- which can be a problem with most regular camber skis on a deep day. Also, the rocker tip allowed me to stay above buried crusts that would normally throw me “over the handlebars” from ankle catching buried layers.
No matter how hard you try, you cannot bury the tips of this ski! As I made fractional movements to engage a turn, the ski responded perfectly and gives you the feeling of absolute control. Without a rocker tail, I did not get the “wheelie” feeling that many other brand models create if you get thrown into a back seat for any reason. It provides great stability with
I was really nervous about skiing this ski in-bounds as I had to take a groomer on my first run. With a rocker tip, it is a little strange to find the sweet spot of the ski on a groomer. However, it is stable enough to turn at high speeds and feel comfortable. I must admit, it is not my favorite ski on packed snow. I would stick to a stiffer/narrower ski with more side-cut on days that do not involve fresh snow. That said, it is an excellent quiver ski, and will make even the smallest storms feel like you are floating on a cloud. This is a must buy!