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
foot of April flake just buried the 'Bird, the Crack House is warming
up and the Rollercoaster's drying out. Epic spring lines are calling
and you better be dialed. From
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.