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Gear Guides
Freeride touring skis for people who climb to ride. How to choose width, length, weight and construction, and an honest look at the DOWN CountDown and ShowDown skis our crew has ridden for more than ten years, with every model, spec and who it suits.
Jany Novotny / Nov 15, 2026
Short version: for freeride touring, you want a ski that is wide enough to float, stiff enough not to fold in crud, and light enough that you still like it after 1,200 m of skinning. For us, that ski has been a DOWN for more than ten years. We ride the CountDown series in the backcountry and the ShowDown series when the lifts do more of the work, and we bring a DOWN demo fleet on our trips so you can ride them too.
Full disclosure, because you deserve it: DOWN SKIS is our partner. We have skied them for more than ten years, and we would not put our name next to a ski we do not ride ourselves. Below you get the specs, the honest trade-offs, and the other skis the test labs rate, so you can make up your own mind.
A freeride touring ski has two jobs that hate each other. Going up, every gram is lifted thousands of times. Going down, you want mass, damping and a tip that does not fold when the snow turns to breakable crust. Every good freeride touring ski is a negotiated settlement between those two. Here is what to look at.
Rockered tips and tails shorten the part of the ski that actually touches the snow. Most freeride touring skiers are happiest at roughly head height or a bit longer. Go shorter if you ski tight trees and steep jump-turn terrain; go longer if you like speed and open faces.
Freeride touring skis typically weigh around 1.6 to 2.2 kg per ski in common lengths. Under that, skis tend to get nervous at speed and deflect in chopped snow. Over that, your legs start writing angry letters on the skin track. Lighter skis are not bad; they just need a gentler pilot when conditions get ugly.
For the full background, read our guide on how to choose freeride and touring skis. For boots that can actually drive these skis, see our freeride touring boot guide.
DOWN SKIS is a small brand that launched in 2011 and builds its skis in Austria. They have a habit of obsessing over the same things we do: shape, durability and how a ski behaves when the snow stops being polite. We have skied them for more than ten seasons, from Austria to the Balkans, Norway and Georgia.
They are not newcomers to independent tests either. Blister's long review of an early CountDown called it "at the top of the class" for skis meant to do inbounds and touring duty, and the CountDown 114 was the only ski Mickaël Bimboes used the season he qualified for the Freeride World Tour.
DOWN currently builds two lines that matter for freeride:
All weights below are DOWN's own figures, per pair, in the lengths shown.
128-104-120 mm. 181 cm (23 m radius) and 187 cm (25 m). About 4.1 to 4.4 kg per pair. Carbon and flax on a wood core, titanal binding insert.
The do-everything freeride touring ski. Sidecut 128-104-120 mm, offered in 181 cm (23 m radius) and 187 cm (25 m). The regular CountDown 104 uses an ash and poplar core with 50K carbon from SGL Sigratex, triaxial glass, flax fibres for damping, Semperdur rubber, a titanal insert under the binding and double-annealed steel edges. Profile: DOWN's freeride rocker, a low elliptical tip, camber underfoot and a nearly flat tail.
DOWN pitches it for everyone from freeride newcomers to competition riders, and that is how it skis. It holds on firm snow, floats well enough when it is deep, and it does not panic when the snow goes to chop. If you ski mostly in low-snowfall areas or denser snow, this is the one.
Weight (per pair): about 4,110 g at 181 cm and 4,417 g at 187 cm.
Our take: the ski we would hand to most people who want one setup for freeride days with real touring. Pair it with an ATK Freeraider 15 EVO or a Hy 13 Free and a Scarpa 4-Quattro Pro, and you have a setup that will not be the weak link anywhere.
128-104-120 mm. 181 cm and 187 cm. About 3.4 to 3.7 kg per pair. Paulownia core, carbon and flax, titanal binding insert.
Same shape, lighter heart. The 104 L keeps the 128-104-120 mm shape and freeride rocker but swaps to a full paulownia core. That knocks the weight down to about 3,370 g per pair at 181 cm and 3,720 g at 187 cm, roughly 700 g lighter per pair than the regular 104. DOWN describes it as better suited to touring and long days with a lot of vertical, while still working as a daily driver.
Our take: if you tour more than you ride lifts, this is the sweet spot. Our touring-heavy guides love it with a Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro and an ATK Raider 13 EVO or Freeraider 15 EVO. It gives up a little damping in the nastiest snow; your legs thank you on the climb.
138-114-130 mm. 182, 189 and 196 cm (23 to 27 m radius). Around 4.5 kg per pair. The powder freeride ski of the line.
The powder machine with manners. Sidecut 138-114-130 mm, in 182 cm (23 m), 189 cm (25 m) and 196 cm (27 m). Ash and poplar core blended with carbon, flax and triaxial glass, a titanal binding insert, Semperdur damping and DOWN's 5-point shape on a hybrid rocker-camber profile. DOWN calls it a staple and a best seller of the line, built for skiers who ride both lifts and backcountry and want stability, fun and float.
Weight (per pair): around 4.5 kg (DOWN lists 4,460 g at 182 cm).
Our take: for Norway, Georgia, the Balkans and deep Alpine winters this is pure joy. It surfs, it pivots in trees, and it still has enough backbone for big faces. On boilerplate traverses you will feel the width; that is the deal you make with a 114.
138-114-130 mm. 182, 189 and 196 cm. About 3.8 to 4.1 kg per pair. Paulownia core blended with carbon.
Deep-snow touring without the sandbag. The same 138-114-130 mm shape with a full-length paulownia core blended with carbon fibre, which DOWN says makes it "not only light but damp." Weight is about 3,770 g per pair at 182 cm and 4,086 g at 189 cm. DOWN calls the 114 L a best seller of the line.
Our take: the ski for people who chase powder on foot. If your trips are hut-to-hut tours in the Accursed Mountains or long days in the Lyngen Alps, and you want float more than you want to win drag races on hardpack, this is the one.
135-100-120 mm. 167 to 187 cm (18 to 22 m radius). About 3.2 to 3.7 kg per pair. Poplar core, two layers of titanal, polyurethane sidewalls.
The one-ski quiver with a metal spine. Sidecut 135-100-120 mm, in five lengths from 167 cm (18 m radius) to 187 cm (22 m). A full-length poplar core, two full-length layers of Austrian titanal, polyurethane sidewalls for damping, Semperdur rubber, a zero-degree sidewall and a tail notch for skin hooks. Weight runs from 3,168 g per pair at 167 cm to 3,660 g at 187 cm. DOWN calls it "playful and simple, yet robust and reliable."
Our take: the ski for days when the lifts do most of the climbing: freeride camps, cat-ski days, technique weeks with a bit of skinning. The shorter turn radius makes it a properly fun groomer ski too, which is why we love it on the Performance Prep camp in Kaprun.
139-108-124 mm. 171 to 192 cm (22 to 27 m radius). About 3.4 to 4.0 kg per pair. Poplar core, two layers of titanal, tail notch for skins.
The resort-to-backcountry bulldozer. Sidecut 139-108-124 mm, in 171 cm (22 m radius), 178 cm (24 m), 185 cm (25 m) and 192 cm (27 m). Same recipe as the 100: poplar core, two layers of titanal, polyurethane sidewalls, tail notch. DOWN pitches it for skiers who split their time between resort and backcountry at roughly 30 percent backcountry to 70 percent resort. Weight runs from 3,415 g per pair at 171 cm to 3,983 g at 192 cm.
Our take: the ski we grab for lift-and-cat-accessed freeride with short skins on top: the Shar Mountains, Kosovo cat days, and stormy Alpine days when you want something that does not care what the snow is doing. Mount it with a hybrid binding like the ATK Hy 13 Free and you have a proper freeride weapon that can still go uphill.
Between two lengths? Take the longer one for open faces and speed, the shorter one for trees and tight couloirs. Still unsure? Do not guess, demo. More on that below.
The boot guide and binding guide go deeper on both.
We ride DOWN, but there are plenty of other great skis out there. A few that keep coming up in the independent tests:
Here is the bit no online shop can match. Our DOWN Ski Demo travels with us: on many of our trips you can switch between CountDown and ShowDown models during the week, on the same terrain, in the same snow, and feel the difference yourself. It is the way we think skis should be tested: days, not runs.
Quick answers
For most freeride touring, 100 to 115 mm underfoot. Around 104 mm is the best all-rounder for mixed snow and steeper terrain; around 114 mm is better for powder-heavy winters and open faces. Skis under about 95 mm are more ski-mountaineering tools.
Yes. The DOWN CountDown series is built as a backcountry freeride line, with carbon layups and lighter L versions with paulownia cores. The CountDown 104 L weighs about 3,370 g per pair at 181 cm, and the CountDown 114 L about 3,770 g per pair at 182 cm, according to DOWN. Our guides have toured on DOWN skis for more than ten years.
CountDown is DOWN's full-carbon backcountry freeride line (104 and 114 mm, regular and lighter L versions). ShowDown is their metal-laminated wide all-mountain freeride line with two layers of titanal (100 and 108 mm), aimed at skiers who use lifts for most of their vertical and skin some of the time.
Snowbusters runs a DOWN Ski Demo on many of our trips and camps in Austria and beyond, including the Performance Prep: DOWN Edition camp in Kaprun. You can swap between CountDown and ShowDown models during the trip and ride them in real freeride conditions.
Most freeride touring skiers are happiest with skis around head height or slightly longer, because rockered tips and tails shorten the effective edge. Choose shorter for tight trees and steep jump turns, and longer for speed and big open faces.
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