As a primary backcountry set up, many of my friends ski the 185 cm Armada JJ mounted with Dynafit bindings. It’s a good, light setup for touring because of the JJ’s progressive shape, and tech bindings are a no-brainer for touring. Seeing all these pairs of JJs in the back of my pickup piqued my interest, but I didn’t want to have the same ski as all my friends. I wanted something bigger and better—the 190 cm Armada Magic J.
The Magic J is Tanner Hall’s spin on the JJ. It’s wider, has less taper, and the widest points of this 5-point ski are moved slightly forward and aft. The dimensions of the 190 cm Armada Magic J are 139-144-127-141-135, giving it a 22-meter turning radius.
Make no mistake, this ski is huge, but it’s fairly nimble for it’s size. The Magic J craves deep powder, and when the snow is there, this ski comes alive.
Overall, I would say the Magic J is for aggressive powder slaying. It’s not really a big mountain ski, but it’s not really a ski for dopey powder turns, either. It’s the in-between of a big mountain board and a powder board. I dream of taking these things down a pillow-spine line. Next time I going cat skiing or plan on carving deep snow, you can bet I’ll be packing these.
