Don't get it twisted; lift accessed skiing is great, but sometimes the crowds get to be a bit much, especially when all of the cool lines at your home resort get skied off so quickly. Sometimes it's nice to get away from the resort just access terrain by foot instead of by lift. Now so more than ever, it's so easy slap on some skins and get moving without feeling completely wiped out at the top of your line. The Women's Rise Beyond 96 is a new offering from volkl is designed to take you anywhere beyond the ropes of the resort without sacrificing downhill performance as a result of a reduction in weight. Slight updates in design relative to its predecessor, the Rise Beyond 98 make it even easier to access your favorite terrain by foot. With a slightly narrower waist width, Volkl was able to reduce the weight of this ski by 100 grams per ski without sacrificing float and overall downhill performance. Essentially the ski performs the same way on the descent while making the climb a bit easier. Volkl uses their Tourlite wood core comprised of Beech under the binding, adding a bit of stiffness where it matters, and Poplar and Paulownia in the outer portions of the ski for a nice smooth flex. A 96-millimeter waist is plenty wide enough to provide great float in deeper snow, but not too wide to the point where things start to get heavy. A bit of tip rocker and early taper on either end of the ski work in unison to provide premium soft snow performance by way of flat and maneuverability. Experienced ladies looking for a new touring ski will love the performance of the Women's Rise Beyond 96.