ADRET - Anatomy of a light ski

There is a fundamental tension in the development of mountain skis that few people mention. On the one hand, physics imposes its laws. To make something lighter means removing material. Thickness. Resistance. On the other hand, the terrain sets its own rules. Steep slopes do not forgive skis that float. Hard snow immediately punishes a lack of grip. And the mountain makes no concessions to engineering. It is in this space of contradiction that Bastien Saillard developed the Adret.

Two kilos a pair. In the world of ski mountaineering and performance touring, it is a meaningful threshold, a limit that shapes every decision from the start. Every gram saved on the way up is paid for somewhere. In the material. In the profile. In how the ski feels underfoot. The real question is not whether to hit that number. It is what you build around it.

B.S. —The weight target was always important, but we already knew how to get there, since the previous version of the Adret had already cleared that bar. My focus from the start was on improving the skiability of this new version. So I went looking for new fibers, new weaves, different combinations to optimize how the ski behaves, while keeping a close eye on weight projections throughout. In practice, that means a lot of hours spent imagining solutions and running them up against cost realities and the production constraints imposed by our factories.

B.S. — It's difficult to make a ski as light as possible while maintaining good performance and reliability throughout the outing, but for me it's a must, because breaking a ski in the mountains can be really dangerous. Without getting too technical, the choice of carbon fiber quality and weave, and their impregnation, is essential. Then, of course, you have to make choices. You can't keep real ABS edges and thick edges on this type of ski. I'm quite proud to say that we've never had a single return for a ski that broke in two.

B.S. —More than anything, we wanted a ski that performs on the descent. That's where we wanted to set ourselves apart from the competition. Carbon is very damaging to snow feel, but very interesting for weight savings and torsional stiffness, and therefore edge grip. We had to find compromises and make all the shape parameters work with that material. Using a relatively long radius, for instance, allowed us to increase torsional stiffness without making the ski too demanding to ski. We wanted something high-performing that still stayed true to our DNA of comfort and accessibility. That's the hardest part with this kind of ski: you can quickly end up with something unforgiving because of the carbon. We went through a lot of prototypes to dial in the shapes and flex profiles and arrive at what we think is the best performance-to-comfort ratio.

B.S. —Testing showed that rubber is excellent at filtering out the vibration carbon tends to transmit. We would have liked to use more of it, but it adds weight. So we placed it where it seemed most effective.

B.S. — It is stiffer than the Ubac range, even though we are not the
stiffest on the market for this type of ski. Stiffness is just one
parameter among many that define skiability, but I think I can
simply say that the skier feels excellent edge grip, even
with a backpack full of equipment or ropes. This is reassuring when you're
skiing in mountainous terrain. What's more, this type of ski is generally chosen
well below your usual size, so it's important
to have good rigidity.

B.S. —It's stiffer than the Ubac line, even if we're not the stiffest on the market in this category. Stiffness is just one parameter among many that define how a ski skis, but simply put, the skier feels excellent edge hold, even with a pack full of gear or rope. That's reassuring when you're moving through serious mountain terrain. And since this is a ski most people size down from their usual length, having that stiffness matters.

B.S. — The most memorable moment was the first prototype. Looking back, it makes me smile, because honestly, it didn't work at all. I had pushed every variable to the maximum and we ended up with something completely unskiable. The testers still remember it, I think. It's the kind of experience that quickly puts things back in perspective.

B.S. —The Adret tends to be seen as a very specific ski, but it can actually suit a wide range of terrain and skier profiles. The mountaineer going after steep, technical alpine lines. The adventurer heading out on a week-long traverse. The athlete skinning back up the resort run as fast as possible with a headlamp on. And simply the tourer who values keeping it light on the way up, whether for ease or for speed. A much broader audience than people expect.