Review: Armada ARV/W 106

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The ARV/ARW 106 has been a staple of the Armada lineup for some years now. The all-new ski for Winter ‘24/25 is by our reckoning the fourth rebuild of the ski with the ARV 106 name and over the years, Armada has been making the ski burlier, stiffer, and more suited to an aggressive style of skiing. The new ski bucks that trend, returning to a softer, more playful platform that will make many freestyle-oriented skiers very happy. The ‘smear tech’ horizontal rocker is gone, and while the ski retains many of the shape characteristics of all its predecessors, it is certainly a softer ski than the outgoing ARV 106. So how does that translate to performance?

Groomers/Resort Skiing:

When you make a ski softer, it rarely improves the groomer performance. But while the new ARV/W 106 doesn’t charge as hard as the previous version of the ski, the ARV 106 is still a solid resort driver. Our testers found it very able all over the hill with particular praise for the ski’s ability to “carve wide turns and yet retain a playful feel”. The skis nail that spot between a park ski and an all-mountain ski right on the head, handling most resort conditions comfortably while remaining a freestyle first kind of ski.

Powder & Mixed Snow:

The ARV/W 106 has always been a very competent powder ski for its size, and that remains true of the new version, which continues to outperform its waist width. The smear tech may be gone, but the rocker profile and medium taper on the ski give it plenty of chops in soft snow. The new layup of the ski still has plenty of backbone for dealing with some choppier snow and while they aren’t in that "charge-y" bracket this is still a ski that can hold its own in most conditions.

Park & Jibbing:

Where the ARV and ARW 106 really came into their own was in the park. Our testers absolutely loved this ski as a wider park ski option. It doesn’t have the shortest turn radius, so it isn’t a "quick turns between features" kind of ski, but it has a very natural feeling shape on both jumps and rails. Almost all of our testers gave this one perfect scores in the park and the praise was varied and unanimous.

“I think Armada ARW 106s were my absolute favorite in the park. They were playful and poppy, and I had so much fun skiing them both on features and between the parks.” - Alex Stange, ski tester

“I enjoyed this ski in the park. I was surprised at how poppy and responsive they were. The low swing weight made a wide ski feel decently light and made for smooth swapping and spinning through the rails” - Asa France, ski tester

“A perfect park/all mountain ripper. Easy to spin onto rails and surface swap, my ideal spring park ski. Soft in the tip with a bit of stiffer tail makes it playful but still reliable for landings.” - Bailey Lahure, ski tester

Conclusion:

The ARV 106/ARW 106 are definitely viable as either a wider park ski or a one-ski-quiver if you’re more of a freestyle-focused kind of skier. Our testers loved them most in the park, but noted that they are an excellent all-mountain option too.

[Editor’s note: The ARV & ARW 106 are identical skis in terms of construction with different topsheets.]