Unicorn Skis: G3 Empire Carbon 115

UNICORN: ˈ(yü-nə-ˌkȯrn), something unusual, rare, or unique. The G3 Empire 115 Carbon, produced from 2013-2017: a unicorn ski.

Specs

Dimensions: 145-115-126mm

Lengths: 170-190 in 5cm increments (I’m on the 190cm version)

Weight: claimed 1650g in 170cm

Factory Mount point: -10.5cm back from the ski’s true center.

Features: Power Ride construction with Poplar wood core, two sheets of Titanal, and a carbon weave.

Shape: Continuous reverse camber matched to the sidecut radius (19m at 170cm).

Unicorn Spotting

Why am I reviewing a ski that you can’t even buy anymore? Good question. This is less a review and more a reflection on an interesting and inventive piece of touring ski history. What’s done once will often be repeated, albeit slightly refined and reiterated, as we try new solutions to increasingly minute ski design problems. Looking back at what has been done, especially in groundbreaking fashion like what G3 did with the Empire 115, I feed my urge to be a student of skiing and learn new things along the way.

And here we have the G3 Empire Carbon 115, which, according to the marketing jargon still hanging around on the internet, is a full reverse camber powder ski targeted at “freeride powder touring and big mountain skiing.” 

I spotted my recently acquired pair of Empire 115s hiding behind a set of bright-banana-yellow DPS Wailer 112 RPs near the back of one of our local consignment stores. (The editor says those planks are still there. Send an email if you want location details. The skis have been drilled, but otherwise, the skis look keen.) Despite the DPS board’s obvious “pick me!” appeal, I was looking for some slightly different ski candy on that day. Tattered looking with ample binding holes drilled into them, the Empires still glimmered as an exotic relic. For the low price of $169, and presumably an all-sales-final policy, the Empires had a new and loving home.