The Ubac 89 is built around a carbon-clad paulownia core—lightweight wood and strong fiber that do the work other skis struggle to accomplish. On the ascent, each step feels easier, and a long day no longer leaves your legs aching halfway up the slope. The narrow waist turns quickly when switching directions on a steep trail. Once on the slope, that same lightness remains responsive, with enough edge hold to grip firm spring snow. It skis much better than its weight would suggest, and that’s the whole point of a fast, Touring -style ski.

This is the kind of skiing for days when the ascent is the goal. Those long spring runs, when the snow refreezes overnight and you want to cover distance quickly and go far. Dawn departures on an icy trail, where lightweight skis save your legs for the summit. Long glacier approaches, where kilometers matter more than deep snow. It climbs efficiently and skis the descent cleanly, on the transformed snow of the return trip. For deep powder after the climb, the wider Ubac models await. For distance and vertical drop, this is the one.

We designed the Ubac 89 for the skier who counts the vertical drop before taking a turn. The idea was to reduce weight wherever the descent allowed—in the core and construction—and to maintain shape where it matters most: on the edge and the tip. We took it on long dawn runs around the mountain range, shaving off grams until the climb became easy, and stopping just before it got too twitchy on hard snow. Light enough to go further, sturdy enough to savor the ride back.