Review: 2027 Ellis Sabr 100 Skis
There’s a reason restaurants have a menu of food options. Variety is cool. One day, you might be craving a burger, when the next, you might really want healthy salad. Even small ski brands play into that psychological phenomenon, like Colorado’s Ellis Skis, who only offer three models as part of their portfolio. At first glance, the three options may look very similar—progressive twin tip freeride skis—but on snow, the three create an extremely well-rounded collection.
The new 2027 Ellis Skis Sabr 100, is the smallest of the three. While it looks like your run-of-the-mill park ski, it hides an extremely fun and lively character and some serious carving chops on firm snow.
Max Ritter
2027 Ellis Sabr 100 Specs
- Size skied: 180cm
- Lengths available: 174cm, 180cm, 186cm
- Sidecut: 131mm – 100mm – 120mm
- Radius: 19.6m (180cm)
- Profile: directional twin
- Weight: 1800g (180cm)
Shape, Flex, and Construction
Overall, the Sabr is a relatively simple ski. The directional twin-tip shape features what Ellis calls their “progressive elliptical sidecut radius,” meaning the radius increases near the tips and tails that prevents the contact points from feeling hooky and hanging up in unexpected places. The medium 19.6-meter radius underfoot gives these a good balance of stability and agility.
Inside, the poplar wood core generates loads of, you guessed it, POP. That core is held together by bio-based Entropy Super Sap epoxy, and is wrapped up in full-height urethane sidewalls and 2.2mm heavy duty edges. In other words, these are built to take a beating, something that Ellis founder and lead ski designer Kevin Schaefer says “is a must for him.”
Flex-wise I’d call these medium-stiff. They are significantly stiffer than the Kanso 106 all-mountain ski, and certainly want to be driven hard and fast on firm snow.
Mark Riegel
On-Snow Performance
When designing the new Sabr 100, Schaefer aimed to create a ski that not only would make otherwise lackluster mid-winter groomer mornings fun again, but also would be the ultimate springtime slush weapon for skiing well into the warmer months. It’s not a soft-snow ski—that’s what the Kanso 106 and Meraki 112 are for—instead, it’s a ski that makes you want to arc turns on firm groomers and go a million miles an hour.
In firm conditions, it does exactly that, with remarkable edge hold and a mostly chatter-free ride. At 1800 grams, the ski isn’t particularly heavy, and doesn’t feature a metal damping layer, but feels like a much heavier, more planted ski at speed. The beauty in it is how energetic and “carvy” the ski feels. It begs to be laid on edge and to be pushed hard—the reward is there in the form of grin-inducing turns. The stiff tail of the ski feels very locked in, but the softer front half engages into a turn very smoothly and predictably.
In softer snow, like spring slush or a few inches of powder, the skis still feels fairly locked in, encouraging high-speed skiing and fun slashy turns. They don’t offer a huge amount of float, but that’s not the point of a 100mm underfoot ski. Instead, when skiing off-piste, the ski wants to be loaded and energetically pushed through all manner of turn shapes.
Comparisons
Three skis worth comparing these to are the 2027 Rossignol Sender Free 100, the 2027 Salomon QST 100, and the DPS Pisteworks 94.
The Rossignol Sender Free 100 (and the very similar Dynastar M-Free 100) is probably the most closely-matched ski on the market. Similar construction, a nearly identical footprint, and similar weights have these feeling very much the same on snow. I’d say the Ellis takes the edge on firm snow, but the Rossi offers a bit more stability and muscle when conditions get bad.
On the other hand, Salomon’s QST 100 is one the most approachable all-mountain skis out there right now, and would make a similar skier happy. The Sabr 100’s shape caters a bit more to the freestyle end of the spectrum, while the QST 100 offers a bit more of a predictable directional ride.
Finally, the ski I kept thinking back to when laying the Sabr on edge and feeling the energy and pop rebound me out of one turn and into the next was the DPS Pisteworks 94. It’s a very soft-flexing carbon on-piste ski that makes carving extremely intuitive. The shapes are not all the similar, and the construction (and price tags) couldn’t be more different, but I love how both of these skis encourage you to try to put your hip on the ground mid-turn (and offer the confidence to very much make that possible).
What type of skier is the 2027 Ellis Sabr 100 best for?
Small-batch indie skis are pretty cool to own, and will definitely turn some heads in the lift line. We’ve loved the Meraki 112 and Kanso 106 from Ellis, and the Sabr 100 fits nicely into the line. It’s a ski for those of you with a penchant for speed, those who live in a place it doesn’t snow much, or for someone looking to add a narrower ski to the quiver but doesn’t want to pigeonhole themselves into a dedicated directional carving ski.
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