RRP: £670

Lengths: 174, 181

Turn radius: 15m @ 174

Dimensions: 150-105-138

Weight per pair: 3540g

More Info: Line Skis

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The Sakana hit most testers visually before they got anywhere near clicking into the bindings. Fall-Line tester and top coach/freestyle guru Andy Bennett aimed for it the moment there was a flutter of fresh to try it out on.

 

“It stands out from the crowd simply with the graphics and crazy shape,” he said as he eased it from the rack.

 

The construction is trad sidecut with Line’s Partly Cloudy core, a mix of lightweight and denser woods which delivers enjoyable spring and response. There’s a fair bit of torsional flex which makes the Sakana feel like it’s flowing over the snow, with little chatter until the speed cranks up. The width gives a perfectly useable all-mountain ride, and on-piste scores were pretty good for the class because it’s fun to crank around thanks to the soft tip and aggressive sidecut.

Andy’s verdict a few runs in?

“This is a rad ski that looks cool but is still easy to handle. The big spoon at the front [it’s a 150mm wide tip running back to a 105mm waist – that’s one turny shape] and the swallow tail at the back are accentuated by the 15m radius sidecut. The big tip rocker allows for the big sidecut on such a fat ski, ensuring it doesn’t hook up in the soft stuff.”

 

Swallowtails drop into the mix to deliver tail grip in soft snow, along with pintails, tail rocker and other design devices. It takes out some area, allows the tail to get sucked down, delivers a surfy ride with this shape and flex and fires out a fine roostertail on piste. And they look the bomb.

You’ll notice there’s a lot of joy in this write-up, which starts with the way it looks and finishes with an appreciative run of the fingers down the topsheet as you feed it back into the rack at the end of the day. We like fun when we’re skiing, and the Sakana is a finely-crafted way to get it.

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