The Black Crows Orb Freebird is a touring ski built for steep, technical descents - 91mm underfoot, 18m radius, now in its fourth generation for 26/27. The update is real rather than cosmetic: the tips and tails are cut noticeably narrower, the waist grows a millimeter, claimed weights drop to 1,175-1,450g per ski, the flex is revised, and the climbing skin attachment is redesigned to weigh less.

The construction is a dedicated touring recipe: a full paulownia woodcore with glassfibers, a semi-cap layup that caps the extremities to save weight, and ABS sidewalls kept underfoot, right where the edges bite and the binding sits. An ash wood pocket under the binding area handles screw retention - the job a titanal plate did in the previous generation - and the 26/27 materials list contains no carbon and no titanal. Black Crows says the narrower extremities and wider waist keep the float while improving grip on steep slopes, which matches what this ski has always been: the Freebird line's precision tool for the way down.

It suits tourers who climb in order to descend - couloirs, alpine faces, long spring missions - and a size run that starts at 155.3cm opens it to smaller skiers. It is the wrong ski for resort laps or a 50/50 setup, where a light touring build gets pushed around. Deep-powder chasers should look at the wider Camox, Navis or Draco Freebird instead, and pure gram-counters at the lighter Mentis or Ova. Be aware the spec sheet still has holes: the rocker profile and flex number are unpublished, and the two shortest lengths' weights are marked "to be confirmed" in the official catalog.

The six lengths run 155.3 to 183.1cm, and the ski retails at $899. It is sold flat, so a touring binding and skins are separate purchases - we mount the binding, and we help you pick the right length for how and where you tour.