Review: Atomic Redster Q9.8 Revoshock

Model year: 2024-2025
Sidecut: 136-85-120.5
Size: 181 cm
Radius: 15.2 m
Technology: wood core, full sidewall, titanal layers, full camber, Revoshock

 

About this ski

The Redster Q series has been around for two seasons now. Q stands for ‘Quite wide’ (my interpretation). The 9 and 9.8 have the heavier construction; the 7 and 7.8 have the softer one. This 9.8 is one of the widest piste skis out there, measuring 85 mm underfoot in the longest length. Note that the sidecuts differ per length, so that the character remains the same in all lengths. A nice little touch from Atomic.

With a classic Redster build these skis don’t have much special going on in terms of construction, other than the fact that they are quite wide and that they are full-camber. This combination is not very common. Our fear was that this Q9.8 was once again an Amaerica-inspired too-wide-for-snappy-carving kind of thing, where the width and the direct cambered shape work against each other.

Precise carvers

On snow, this proves less of a problem than we feared. They actually ski quite smoothly and not that grabby, despite the full camber construction. They do however prefer to carve rather than skid. Not at all a problem when ridden by a practiced skier. Intermediates may find them less forgiving, especially in firmer 3D snow.

They plow through just about anything. In hard bumps, they are not so easy to ski though. The direct carving shape, lack of rocker and the with that make them slightly slower edge-to-edge compared to narrower skis are to blame here. Nevertheless, if you’re an advanced skier looking to carve on-piste in all conditions, this might be your ski. 

Conclusion

A quite allround piste ski for advanced skiers. If you bring your carving game, these are your friends in all conditions on-piste. If you like to ‘wedel’ in the hard bumps, pick something else. Very nice skis, even though they are a bit more expensive than some competitors in the same class.

Characteristics

Playful		Stable
Forgiving		Punishing
Lively		Damp
Skidding		Carving
Low speed		High speed
Short turn		Long turn
Soft snow		Hard snow