This story starts with my love affair with the 4FRNT Hoji, which opened my eyes to the maniacal fun of surfy reverse camber skis in powder snow. My wishes for a lighter-weight, Hoji-style ski were answered in 2023 with the advent of the Heritage Lab BC110—a lightweight powder surfer that was only usurped by the similarly light but fatter BC120 I scored this past season. Long story short, Heritage Lab Skis have been the main object of my ski lust for a few years now. Diving into the Heritage Lab a bit, the reasons for their designs resonating so well start to make sense; the founder and decision maker at Heritage Lab, Marshal Olson, is a powder touring enthusiast in the Wasatch, has loads of experience working at brands like DPS, and most importantly, is hyper-tuned in to his community and customer base. One can follow along on the TGR forum, where ski ideas and feedback often come in as forum posts/comments, and Marshal responds, often implementing feedback and ideas into designs.
While I continue to love my reverse-camber skis for powder snow, I didn’t totally click with the Heritage Lab BC90, whereas I (among other THR contributors) really enjoy the almost-flat camber and long, gentle rocker profile of the Black Crows Solis. It seems the rest of the industry took notes on this concept, which isn’t revolutionary by any means, but the combination of long radius, minimal camber, and a good bit of rocker without extreme tip splay makes for an incredibly versatile package. Marshal threw his hat in the ring in this category with the BC100, serendipitously timed with the other major player in the reverse-camber touring ski game, 4FRNT, releasing its Nevar, featuring some camber and a similar rocker profile.
Long story short, it’s a great time to be a gear-obsessed ski tourist. We have so many options and an awesome ability to optimize and fit our needs and desires better than ever. This isn’t so much a sales pitch for owning more skis, but more an appreciation for our ability to get exactly what we are looking for in the skis we do own.
