Review: blackcrows Navis Freebird Touring Skis

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There’s a few skis on the market today that have gained a certain notoriety, perhaps even cult status. They are the kind of skis you see in every liftline, or at every backcountry trailhead: skis like Atomic’s various Bent Chetlers, Salomon’s QST line, or blackcrows Navis Freebirds (the green touring skis you’ve seen literally everywhere). For 2026, blackcrows didn’t change a thing about the Navis Freebird, save for updating the topsheet for a limited-edition run as part of their Ghost Resorts collection. Call me a bad POWDER Gear Editor, but I had actually never skied the green skis until this season. For whatever reason, despite knowing about them and watching many friends love them, they had always somewhat flown under the radar for me. Boy, was I missing out.

The not-new Navis Freebird is a ski that’s purpose built for ski touring in big mountains. It’s not really a powder ski, it’s not really a lightweight uphill-focused ski, and it’s not a backcountry freestyle ski. Perhaps we should call it a backcountry all-mountain ski, because that’s really what it is. It’s meant to ski up and down mountains, in really any conditions. Actually, let’s just call it an adventure skiing ski.

blackcrows Navis Freebrid Specs

• Size skied: 185cm
• Lengths available: 167cm, 173cm, 179cm, 185cm
• Sidecut: 138mm – 102mm – 118mm
• Radius: 19m (185cm)
• Profile: rocker, camber, rocker
• Weight: 1625g (185cm)

Shape, Flex and Construction

From a design standpoint, the blackcrows Navis Freebird is actually pretty unexciting. With a directional shape, relatively flat tail, and no weird sidecut or rocker stuff going on, it looks like a plain ol’ ski. The shovel has a reasonable amount of taper paired with a good amount of low-rise tip rocker, before narrowing to a 102mm waist. Out back, the tail is quite flat, squared off, and features a short taper and a teeny bit of tail rocker.

Flex-wise, I’d classify the Navis Freebird as medium-stiff. Call it a 6/10. The tip and tail are a little softer than the underfoot section, but the ski flexes very roundly, without any peaky points.

Inside, the paulownia/poplar core is also nothing revolutionary (most modern touring skis feature something similar). The ski features some carbon stringers and a titanal plate underfoot for binding retention, but the construction is mostly geared towards keeping the weight low while still offering damp, predictable performance.

On-Snow Performance

For testing, I mounted my tester pair of 185cm blackcrows Navis Freebirds with the special edition blackcrows-branded ATK Raider 13 EVO touring bindings. These are a slightly lighter version of the Freeraider 15 EVO bindings I’ve used on other touring skis this year that skip the freeride spacer and offer slightly lower release values. I’ve taken these skis all around the world, pairing them with Tecnica Zero G Tour Pros, climbing and riding couloirs and big-mountain lines in the Tetons, to ski touring around the fjords of Norway for a week.

The most immediate thing that stands out about the Navis Freebird is how easy it is to ski. It offers the kind of ride quality that’s absolutely surprise-free. They are very quiet, but not so damp you can’t feel the snow–there’s just enough suspension to take the edge off weird and variable snow conditions you might find in the backcountry. As a relatively lightweight touring ski, the very composed and predictable ride quality is a bit surprising–they ski downhill as if they are much heavier.

To me, stability and composure are really important traits for a ski I’d want to take into technical, steep terrain. There’s absolutely no room for weirdness (like unexpected chatter, edges that skitter away underfoot, or unexpectedly grabby tips and tails) when I’m trusting my edges in an exposed couloir in firm snow. The Navis Freebird is free of all of those types of surprises. The balanced swing weight of the ski make hop turns a breeze, and the long camber lines really help the edges bite into firm snow to slow you down and control your trajectory.

It’s not all just about steep skiing on these, though. In mellower, cruisy terrain (the vast majority of what you actually end up skiing when adventure touring in the high mountains), and in deep backcountry powder, the Navis Freebird is energetic, poppy and playful enough to make low-angle noodling really fun. On a day of traversing various peaks above Norway’s Romsdal Fjord, I thoroughly enjoyed everything from steep hop turns to cruisy sunset arcs through the wide-open treeless valleys back down to the car.

On the uphill, the 1650-ish gram weight isn’t the lightest, but the tradeoff you get for ski quality is well worth the extra grams. Pair it with a light binding like the ATK (or even something lighter like an ATK Kuluar 12 or a Dynafit Superlite 150), and you won’t be bogged down even on the biggest days.

Comparisons

Compared to other adventure touring skis on the market, the Navis Freebird looks pretty similar to the bunch, namely the 4FRNT Nevar, the Faction La Machine 3, and another tester favorite, the Salomon QST 106 Echo.

The most recent adventure touring ski I tested was 4FRNT’s new Nevar. The Nevar tips the scales at a heavier 1800ish grams, and features a much longer turn radius and more pronounced rocker lines (despite the addition of camber). Consequently, the most noticeable difference is how much easier the Navis Freebird is to ski, particularly in unpredictable snow. The Nevar requires a more traditional, powerful approach and responds well to being driven through the front of your boot, whereas the Navis can be driven as hard as you want, but doesn’t require it. One plus for the Nevar is the 4-Lock skin attachment system–which is something every ski needs to have.

Compared to the Faction La Machine 3, the Navis Freebird wins in terms of performance on firm, choppy and variable snow, but is heavier and a bit more tiring to ski. The Factions are a bit lighter and offer some extra float and surfiness in deep pow.

Finally, the Salomon QST 106 Echo is perhaps the most similar ski in terms of intended use: quiver-of-one ski touring. If you’re looking for a daily driver touring ski, you can’t go wrong with either of these choices. The Echo wins slightly in terms of deep snow performance with a bit more float thanks to the bigger shovel, but the Navis Freebird edges it out in terms of stability and control on firm snow.

What type of skier is the blackcrows Navis Freebird best for?

I said this in my review of the 4FRNT Nevar, but there’s a lot of talk about having the appropriate quiver of skis for your home range, especially if you’re lucky enough to ski enough times a year to be picky about conditions. The blackcrows Navis Freebird is a true quiver-killer, and will make just about any backcountry skier happy, no matter your ability level, intentions, or skiing style. 

Unless I’m touring to go ski more than a foot of cold, dry powder, I’d be perfectly happy skiing these every day of the winter. It’s the ski I’ll be grabbing when I’m heading into the high peaks for some human-powered adventure skiing and know that I’ll face all kinds of conditions: good, bad, and ugly.