A couple of years ago, carbon-fiber ski pioneer Dave Goode told us, “It’s only a matter of time before nobody is skiing on wood-core skis anymore.” We’ll believe it when we see it. But there’s no doubt that Goode and his crew are genuinely innovative when it comes to carbon ski design. The brand enjoys huge market share in the competitive waterskiing world. The STR8 (140/135/130) is a pure-powder ski that borrows from modern jumping water skis, whose squared ends milk more surface area and provide more loft than rounded ends would. In powder, loft translates as float, and an extended tip-splay—the upturn of the ski shovel begins a foot back from the tip rather than the few inches back of a traditional ski—helps the STR8 stay on top. There’s no sidecut either; it’s that long upturned tip combined with the curve created by flexing the ski into turns that makes the STR8 steerable. It’s also insanely light, thanks to the all-carbon construction; a pair weighs six pounds, 14 ounces. These make powder skiing easy—really easy.
[$1,290; http://goode.com/ target=_blank>goode.com]