Ever since my good friend CR Johnson left us way too soon I've been wanting a pair of these skis, both to honor his memory, and because I know that CR knew what was up when it came to ski design...and I wasn't wrong.

The 4FRNT CRJ is such a well rounded ski that it's hard to put into words. Thanks to its 115 waist, it's wide enough to float like an overweight Russian in the Black Sea in the pow, but still nimble enough to surprisingly rip the groomers like a Japanese bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka. It also boasts a perfectly tapered tip (with a healthy dose of rocker in both the tip and tail to boot!), which makes it feel a lot less sluggish than some of the other big daddy rockered skis out there.

Flex-wise, the stiffness under the foot instills some much needed confidence in my rickety knees in any and all conditions (even ice), and the softness in the tip and tail helps me swing it around the tight trees I love to ski with little to no effort.

Graphics-wise, I have to confess that I'm not much of a Rasta guy (what can I say...I'm a product of the 80's metal era), but I do dig lions, so I was more than stoked on the look of this ski the second I pulled it out of the box, particularly the see through portions of the top sheet which allow you to bear witness to the fine craftsmanship of the core.

Most of all though, every day I'm skiing on these makes me think of what an amazing skier, friend and human being CR was. So it's impossible to have a bad day on them :)