Review: Renoun Endurance 88 Skis

I'm a huge fan of non-Newtonian substances. Admittedly, my sample size is limited. I'd never heard of non-Newtonian substances until last year, when I bought a curling toque made with D3O foam, a thin layer of goo that is spongey until it's struck, causing it to stiffen and absorb the shock. A few weeks ago, I had my second experience with extremely viscoelastic materials while testing the Endurance 88 skis from Vermont upstart brand Renoun.

Renoun is a Burlington-based ski maker that's been around for just over a decade. The direct-to-consumer company's big innovation is the use of the non-Newtonian material in the core of its skis, which it calls VibeStop. Renoun launched with a D3O partnership but soon after transitioned to its own patented polymer blend, designed for subzero temperatures and high-frequency vibration.

In my two days of testing at Arizona Snowbowl outside Flagstaff (11,500-foot elevation at the top with 2,300 feet of vertical), the Endurance 88s skied extremely smoothly, leaving my legs feeling fresh even though I'd only been on the mountain three times this season, several months before.

Smooth Snow

I should note here that the major benefits of Renoun's skis are probably better enjoyed by people who are more aggressive skiers than I am. I have skied since I was 5 and probably have at least 500 days on the hill, however, I generally do not seek out steep, ungroomed terrain or ski off-piste. I also ski out West, where the snow is generally better.

The big advantage of Renoun's skis—and the reason they cost $700 to $1,200—is that the unique compound poured into their wooden core will dampen the rumbling when you're skiing across crud or corn snow. The company says it can’t disclose manufacturing details but did share that the uncured polymer is “goo-y/liquid” before it's applied to the skis and stabilized. (Manufacturing secrecy is common in the ski industry—I had to sign a waiver before touring the ON3P factory a decade ago.) All Renoun skis have some VibeStop material in them, but the Endurance 88 sticks have among the highest concentration and, thus, carry among the least chatter.

The advantages, though, were clear in my two days of testing in Arizona (I planned to ski a third day at Mount Hood in Oregon, where conditions are worse than in the Southwest, but a big spring storm had the roads under winter advisory, and I was not interested in strapping tire chains onto a rented Nissan Rogue).

Most skiers agree that a softer ski is better on bumpy terrain or bad snow, while a stiffer ski is more comfortable at higher speeds. Swapping between the two is essentially the promise of Renoun's design. I skied groomed runs from the slightly icy top of the peak to the slushy bottom in mid-March and found the Endurance 88s performed very well the whole time. I kept my edges when I wanted them, didn't catch them as I carved turns, and felt no vibrations even at top speed.

The Renoun skis I tested are also noticeably lighter than my regular ride, a pair of decade-old Armada TSTs the same length. The stats say there is a 100-gram difference per ski. That means the Renoun skis are roughly 5 percent lighter, though different bindings make it hard to compare directly. My demo pair has adjustable bindings, which are heavier than standard bindings, and the skis were still noticeably lighter.

Fresh Legs

The Renoun's main advantage for a resort skier bombing blues, like me, is that dampening vibrations keeps your legs fresh. I'm unfortunately cursed by poor life decisions to live as a flatlander and only get out a few times a year, so I usually find my legs are jelly after two days on the hill. But on the day after my two sessions using the Renouns with a pair of CEP compression socks, my legs felt no different than they would on a normal day where I'm awakening at 7,000 feet of altitude after an extended après.

The company's stated goal is to stop you from thinking about your skis, and that was my experience—as I was reviewing them, I had to force myself to stop and think about them rather than just enjoying the view from the gondola. My only other thought was that the blue-gray colorway looked bad with my green and orange boots, and I wish they'd be a little bolder in style.

Other than the rattle-free experience on the few patches of crud I encountered, the Renoun Endurance 88 skied very neutrally thanks to with a relatively long camber (80 percent of the ski) with modest front and rear rockers. If you want a surfy powder ski, look at Line. But if you're looking to keep fresh legs on crud, corn, or worse, the Renoun are worth a look, especially with end-of-season discounts and the company's generous return policy, which allows you to ski them up to five days within six months of receipt and return them if you don't like them.