Lively and Quick, Atomic's Maverick 105 CTI Packs Performance Into a Lightweight Package

All-mountain skis come in all shapes and sizes, and that’s what makes this category so interesting. It’s where brands can experiment and come up with some clever ways to make everyday skiing as fun as possible. For the past few seasons, Atomic’s entire line of Maverick and Maven skis has espoused versatility, and the Maverick 105 CTi is their mid-fat take on the matter, adding a wider all-mountain waist width to the fleet that’s light, forgiving, and precise for ripping around inbounds any day of the season.

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2027 Atomic Maverick 105 CTi Specs

• Size skied: 185cm
• Lengths available: 170cm, 178cm, 185cm, 191cm
• Sidecut: 134.5mm – 104.5mm – 123.5mm
• Radius: 19m (185cm)
• Profile: twin rocker
• Weight: 2050g (185cm)

Shape, Flex, and Construction

The Maverick 105 CTi makes use of Atomic’s HRZN 3D tech which, in other words, means the funky spoon-shaped tips you’ve probably seen on other models from the brand. The design quirk is meant to improve float in deep snow, but these aren’t total powder noodles. The Maverick’s cores are built with carbon and titanal—an aluminum alloy that beefs up skis—so these’ll have your back to a degree in less pleasant snow. The skis shape and recommended mount point is fairly traditional (read: pretty far back), and most of our testers found that they enjoyed the ski mounted slightly further ahead of the recommended mark—it gave the ski a more balanced and playful feel.

On-Snow Performance

Versatility is a hard thing to come by in skis, but the Maverick 105 CTi consistently impressed us with its balance of light weight and performance in soft and variable snow. It’s good on-piste, but really comes alive when you duck off-piste into the more interesting areas of the resort. The ski tracks very precisely and rewards energetic skiing, giving you plenty to push into when navigating bumps, tight trees, steep chutes, or just ripping groomers back to the lift. While it was surprisingly light and nimble, it still skied admirably in three-dimensional snow, particularly the softer leftovers you might find days after a storm. In fresh powder it belies its waist width, floating well thanks to the big shovels.

The lightweight feeling of the Maverick 105 CTi is a bit of a compromise when it comes to all-out stability at high speeds when the going gets really firm, though.

“In cut up s— snow, they definitely got pingy and bounced around,” said one tester. “At the same time, on a smooth groomer, I felt comfortable pushing the pace more and getting them on edge.”

More weight would likely improve that hard snow performance, but likely at the cost of diminishing the ski’s standout agility. On the flipside—compared to heavier, damper skis—we found the Maverick 105 CTi to be easier and less tiring to ski and maneuver in tight spots, much like its big brother, the 115. 

Comparisons

The mid-fat category brims with options, and for good reason: these are the skis for realists—skiers who know that as appealing as a gargantuan pair of powder planks might be, they’ll spend much of their life in the garage, gathering dust. 

At our test, the Salomon QST 106 also hit the all-rounder, do-it-all mark. Much like the Maverick 105 CTi, they’re easy to pick up and get along with, but they sacrifice some of the Maverick’s energy for stability. The Maverick’s a bit lighter and more energetic than the QST. 

Compared to those options in the middle of the road market, Dynastar M-Free 108 takes the beefiness up another notch, catering towards skiers who really like to go fast without worrying about their skis folding up. 

All are good fun, and cater to variations on a theme: dropping out of the ski buying rat race to settle on one, dependable pair of planks.

What Type of Skier Is the Atomic Maverick 105 CTi Best For? 

Overall, for a smaller skier or someone who doesn’t need the ski equivalent of a two-by-four, the Mavericks make for an entertaining, approachable, and lively ride that has some heft but prizes maneuverability over balls-to-the-walls dampening. If you don’t mind quicker, active skiing—as opposed to picking a direction and letting the ski do all the work—you’ll probably get along with these bad boys.

“Here’s my dream day with these: Lapping a nice, open bowl after a big storm. Making big turns but in gullies and where applicable, throwing slashes and bringing the turn shape a little tighter,” another tester said. “Generally, if the snow is skewing softer, I’d be happy on them.”

At their weight, the Mavericks could also make for a solid in-bounds/out-of-bounds ski. Throw some crossover bindings on them and you’ll have more fun on the way down than your buddies riding featherweight touring skis.