Scott Black Majic ski, Gold Award Winner

Several retailers were angling for this to be Ski of the Year, knowing they’ll sell it by the quiverful. That can be one of the criteria, but we generally like something a little wider than the Majic’s 75-80mm underfoot (depending on length) to max out every condition possible. Everything else, though, hits the buttons hard enough to easily warrant a Gold Award. 

Scott have taken all the life and verve that riddles their range and injected it into a narrower all-mountain/piste ski to set up stall in the high volume end of the sales tent. Sadly/happily, most skiers don’t go off piste so all that useful float above a mid-80mm waist is wasted. Oh well, better use a bit of rocker, an elliptical upper surface for increased torsion control (as premiered in last year’s SOTY The Ski) and try a flat tail, and see what happens.

The Black Majic feels different to most performance piste skis, because there’s always the sensation that it’s out to play. Where most others are grippy, relentless and serious, this is grippy and zippy, eager to change turn shape, flick off the lip of the piste and pivot within its own length. It’s like a supercharged freestyle ski with added control. 

The write-ups we leafed through suggests all riders took something away from their time on the Majic, peppered as they were with “Wow! Fun! Laugh! Entertaining!”. There were more exclamation marks than a soap script, and crucially they were attached to more tests than any ski has recorded at a UK test. If you’re after a piste ski and want a ride that changes the way you look at the groomers, give the Black Majic a go.