The Black Crows Camox Freebird is a 97 mm unisex touring ski, the mid-width model in the Freebird backcountry range, redesigned for 26/27 as its fifth generation. Black Crows positions it as its reference for moving through high mountains: one ski meant to earn its keep on the skin track and again on the way back down.

What changed. This is a structural redesign: a refined tip, a wider 97 mm waist, and a fresh sidecut at 18 m across the size run - Black Crows says the shape change brings more dynamic weight transfers and steadier edging. Claimed weight falls 10 percent, and the climbing-skin system is updated - its details are not yet published. One honest consequence: the reviews you will find online cover earlier generations; the 26/27 build itself had no openly published test as of July 2026.

Construction. The build is semi-cap - cap in tip and tail to save weight, ABS sidewalls under the binding area - over a paulownia-poplar core laminated with fiberglass and carbon tape. At 1,300 g per ski in the 167.1 cm and 1,400 g in the 179.2 cm, it is light for a 97 mm ski, and that lightness is the trade you are buying: uphill ease over resort-ski damping.

Choosing within the line. Lift-served skiers should buy the standard Camox instead: same 97 mm waist, resort construction, $849. Skiers chasing float should step up to the Navis Freebird at 104 mm and $999; gram-counters should step down to the Ova Freebird at 85 mm and $849. The Camox Freebird holds the middle path, built for skiers who actually tour.

Six lengths run from 155.2 to 185.5 cm; PTO stocks the 167.1, 173.1, and 179.2. The $949 price is for the skis alone. Skins are a separate purchase - Black Crows makes dedicated Pilus skins for it - and no official 26/27 binding statement has been published yet, so compatibility is a question we will not guess at. Tell us which binding you have in mind, and we will help you sort out mounting and length in the shop.