The New Atomic Flagship
New for the 2021-22 season, Atomic is replacing its Vantage series with a sparkling new all-mountain collection: Maverick on the men’s side and Maven on the women’s side. The flagship ski in the collection is the Maverick 95 Ti.
When you imagine a ski company building a new ski, it may seem obvious to include every type of skier in the R&D process. That’s especially true for a ski that you’re hoping to sell to a wide range of skiers across all of North America. That paradigm, though, is surprisingly uncommon. Brands often involve industry insiders, athletes, etc., far more than average Joe Shmoes. So when Atomic announced that they involved more than 60 testers from the get-go, many of whom were just your average casual skier, it turned some heads.
Of course, the advantage to developing a ski this way seems fairly obvious. It’s like having a cheat code. As long as they didn’t screw anything up, Atomic should have landed on a ski that they already know a huge number of skiers will love. Which begs the question: Did they succeed?
Field Notes
The Maverick 95 Ti incorporates design flourishes from other successful Atomic skis, like the Backlands and Bent Chetlers, while also introducing some new tech. The ski falls into the “directional all-mountain” category, which already includes some big names like the Volkl M6 Mantra, Salomon Stance 96, Nordica Enforcer 94, and Blizzard Bonafide 97.
Like each of those skis, the Maverick is built with metal. In this ski, though, the metal is more subtle: two sheets of thin (0.4mm) titanal. HRZN tech tips, also seen in Atomic’s freeride and touring skis, increase the surface area in the skis’ tips for improved float and smooth handling. Stout and lively poplar plus fiberglass comprise the Maverick’s core, which Atomic refers to as the “OMatic” core. Yes, that’s the letters of “Atomic” rearranged, and yes it’s a mild head-scratcher of a marketing choice. But that’s neither here nor there. Let’s dive into how the skis perform on snow.
Groomers
The first place I skied the Maverick 95 Ti was Copper Mountain on a sunny February day. If you know Copper, you know it’s got a formidable collection of long groomers that unfold straight ahead of you like I-70 in eastern Colorado. Also like plains I-70, it’s a great place to go really fast.
For your reference, I’m not an ex-racer. Like a true hack, I’ve never taken a lesson or been part of a ski team. I’m also a small man, at 5’7″ and a couple IPAs north of 160 pounds. Take all that as you will, along with this micro- verdict: I pushed the Maverick 95 Ti as hard as I could, which included getting some mountain cops to wave their arms at me, and I came away glowing about the ski’s groomer performance.
There’s just enough metal, sidecut, and camber to make the Maverick a speed machine, at least as far as all-mountain skis go. It feels planted and reliable, and it links up carves long and short smoothly and seamlessly. It’s not a heavy ski—in fact it weighs less than each of the aforementioned competitors—but it feels supportive enough for some wholesome Maching. In fact, I liked skiing it on groomers more than the M6 Mantra, which is well-known for all-star groomer performance.
Besides just speeding around, the Maverick 95 Ti can also ski at slower speeds and make shorter turns. It doesn’t punish you if you want to ski slower, and that’s probably a testament to Atomic’s inclusive testing process. That means intermediate skiers can feel confident progressing on this ski. There’s a chance bigger and chargier skiers will prefer burlier skis like the Bonafide 97 or Stance 96, but I’m betting most dudes will love the Maverick 95 Ti’s lively and well-balanced groomer performance.
Bumps and Trees
In the moguls and the forest, the Maverick 95 Ti skis the most differently from those other mid-90s all-mountain options. It’s not a ski with offensive tail rocker; the rocker profile is pretty standard for a directional all-mountain ski these days. But I found the tails easy to release when you need to, checking speed down a bump run or slicing up a tree alley. Of course, the Maverick’s cousin, Atomic’s Bent Chetler 100, will be a bit better at that as more of a freeride/freestyle ski. But the Maverick’s advantage is that you get the planted feel of metal, which makes it easier to attack the fall line when moguls and trees are in your way. Again, it’s a nice balance between performance and skiability.
Powder and Mixed Snow
In my experience, the most challenging snow for directional all-mountain skis in the mid-90s to get right is the variable stuff. Sure, every ski is fun in soft, dusty powder. But it’s so easy for these skis to get hooky or cumbersome or overly demanding in heavier or crusty pow or other less-than-ideal conditions.
The Maverick 95 Ti handles mixed snow better than average compared to the other skis in its category. Those tapered HRZN tech tips plane up and link turns smoothly regardless of the snow type, which again won’t be surprising if you’ve skied the Bent Chetler or a Backland. The one exception would be the truly crappy stuff, like frozen or heavy chop or crud or, God forbid, sastrugi. When the snow gets like that, most skis with lighter tips get deflected, while those burlier skis with more metal hold up better. The Maverick does have lighter tips, so you could get bounced around a bit. The saving grace there, though, is the Maverick’s rock-solid edge hold, which keeps it from every feeling squirrelly.
Of course, if you’re the type of skier who prioritizes powder performance yet wants a one-ski-quiver, you might take a look at the Maverick 100 Ti or the Bent Chetler 100. Both of those skis, especially the latter, slant more to the freeride realm than the Maverick 95 Ti. It skis like the poster child of the “all-mountain” category.
Downside
Like a few other skis that exemplify the overused buzz-term “one-ski-quiver,” the Maverick 95 Ti excels at everything it does. That means, though, that it isn’t necessarily the best ski on the market for any one type of snow condition or terrain. Some skis are more powerful. Some are more playful. Some are better carvers. Some are better in bumps. So, before you buy a pair, you need to make sure that’s the kind of ski you want. If you’re really someone who always searches for powder off-piste or lives for groomers, for example, you may not need a Jack-of-All-Trades.
Bottom Line
If, however, you really are an all-mountain connoisseur, the Maverick 95 Ti is one of the best 2022 skis for you. It has racked up praise from several Powder7 staffers, and with the serious hype campaign Atomic put behind this ski, you’ll want to pull the trigger as soon as you can.
See our brand-by-brand previews of 2022 gear
