The Atomic Cloud 12 is a women’s ski with the same Servotec technology as you can find in the Atomic Redster racing ski’s. “This acts like power steering for your skis, dialing up the ski’s agility in turns and its stability on fast straights.” The ski has a 100% camber profile, a light wood core of poplar wood and full sidewall promising a fairly uncompromising powerful ride. Its black bad-ass look (instead of the more feminine design touches you often see and ski’s made for women) seem to imply that this ski is for powerful women with more regard for performance than looks.

Circumstances

The day we skied with the Atomic Cloud 12 brought a cold morning with hard packed icy corduroy slopes in the morning on the higher pistes where we hit a lot of black graded pistes. Lower on the mountain in the second part of the day brought softer, slushier snow and chowder to the bottom of the runs.

Double review

Both our female riders skied with the Cloud 12, with both different proficiency levels. Marije has 31 years of skiing experience and did the primary review. 

Marije:

Marije’s natural choice is for softer ski’s with easier turn initiation, and a bit more forgiving a ride. So she struggled a bit with the hard, stiff, “bombs away” nature of the Cloud 12. She really had to work hard at initiating turns and had to ride much more aggressively than is her natural riding style. On steeper segments, this was challenging because the ski wants to go fast, everywhere, all the time. So where she had to double her efforts and focus on every last bit of technique she had to manage and control the ski’s on those black pistes, when the grade got a bit flatter she could fly into long stable carve turns and ease the ski’s into the speed they love so much. That is also where she did not feel overwhelmed by the ski and really enjoyed herself.

Rinske:

Is a slightly more technical and aggressive skier. She just loved the ski, especially because it demanded a forceful and active riding style. At speed, it holds you perfectly, long turns where pure bliss. But also short or slipped turns were great as long as you really powered into them and delivered pressure throughout. The hard-packed piste is where the ski’s excelled. Lower on the mountain on the day we were riding we also hit some chowder, and the Atomic Cloud 12 wants to charge through that as well. Not the best combination at the end of a tiring day.

For who?

Both Marije en Rinske would advise this ski to very experienced to expert female riders. You need to know how to handle the ski, how to check and control it as it chomps at the bit to race down the mountain, and how to make it corner. If you are that kind of skier, then this will deliver the punch that it certainly packs.

Conclusion

The Atomic Cloud 12 delivers on its promise of performance piste ski bordering (and sometimes crossing over that border) on race segment. For the very experience active rider who knows what she needs to do to power and control the ski.  

Atomic Cloud 12

Retail Price: € 649,95