he Volkl Blaze 94 W offers a lightweight all-mountain ski with serious alpine touring chops that hasn't been dumbed down from its corresponding men's ski. That's because with the Blaze series, Volkl doesn't subscribe to the idea that women need softer or watered-down skis. So like the men's edition, the women's Volkl Blaze 94 features a carbon stringer, a metal powerplate, and deflection-reducing rubber in the tips and tails. They have a surprisingly high speed limit for their weight class and hold reliable edges. When you get into soft snow or trees or bumps, they pivot and smear and snap quick turns when you need them to. Intermediate, lighter-weight, or more casual skiers will love the Blaze for legit all-mountain resort skiing.