Dirty Bear XL review

Overview

The Majesty Dirty Bear XL is the wide member of the Dirty Bear family: a playful, surfy all-mountain freestyle ski built around a 105 mm waist and a directional twin-tip shape. Where a directional charger wants to be pointed downhill and driven hard, the Dirty Bear XL wants to play. It slashes soft snow, butters across flats and takes side-hits, natural features and small cliffs in stride, then still holds enough edge to let you ski the rest of the mountain when the powder runs out. It is a one-ski quiver for a rider who values freedom of movement over top-end speed, and it leans on Majesty's 4x4 Design Concept to balance float, pop and stability.

On-snow performance

On soft snow the Dirty Bear XL is in its element. The 105 mm waist and the tip-and-tail rocker let it plane up and smear sideways easily, so slashing turns and slarving through cut-up snow feels natural rather than forced. The directional twin-tip shape means the tail is turned up enough to ride switch and land nose-first drops cleanly, without being a fully symmetrical park ski, so it still tracks forward with intent. Underfoot camber and semi-cap sidewalls give it real edge hold: on groomers and firm snow it will lay down a clean, medium-radius turn and trust its edge through a carve, which is more than many freestyle-leaning skis of this width offer. The progressive 4Radius sidecut, roughly 20 m at 174, makes it happy shortening or lengthening the turn on demand. What you trade for all that playfulness is top-end composure. Pushed to very high speed on rough, chopped-up hardpack, the tune that makes it so surfy gives up some of the calm, planted feel a stiffer directional charger keeps. At 105 mm underfoot it is also an average width on firm hardpack rather than a specialist carver, so committed all-day piste skiers will feel the compromise. Buttering, pressing the tips and tails, and popping off features is where it rewards you most.

Construction & specs explained

The Dirty Bear XL uses a poplar and ash wood core: poplar keeps it light and lively, ash adds pop and a firmer feel underfoot. That core is wrapped in triax and biax fiberglass, which tunes torsional grip and longitudinal flex for a playful but not noodly ride. Semi-cap sidewalls sit over the edges for a blend of cap-ski forgiveness and sidewall-ski bite, a corrund topsheet resists scratches, and an IS7200 sintered base holds wax and runs fast. The profile is a hybrid rocker/camber/rocker: rocker at tip and tail for float and release, camber underfoot for grip and energy. Sidecut at 174 cm is 140/105/130 mm and stays constant across lengths, with a representative progressive turn radius around 20 m. Weight is about 1800 g per ski at 174 cm, on the lighter side for a 105 mm all-mountain ski, which is a big part of why it feels so easy to throw around. It comes in 162, 168, 174, 180 and 186 cm.

Who it's for & comparisons

The Dirty Bear XL suits the freestyle-minded all-mountain skier who spends most of the day playing with the terrain rather than racing down it: side-hits, buttering, natural features, switch riding and soft-snow slashing. It is not the pick for someone who wants to charge chop at speed or who lives on firm hardpack. Cross-shop it against the Faction Studio 3 and Volkl Revolt 104, both playful freestyle-leaning all-mountain skis in the same width band, and the slightly more directional K2 Mindbender 106c mens if you want a bit more charge. Within Majesty's own range, the Majesty Dirty Bear Pro is the narrower, more piste-friendly sibling, while the Majesty Vandal is the symmetrical, park-focused twin if your day is more jibbing than slashing.

Pros, cons and verdict

Pros

• Playful, surfy character that loves slashing soft snow.
• Butters, presses and takes side-hits and small cliffs with ease.
• Holds an edge well enough to ski the whole mountain.
• Light 1800 g build makes it easy to throw around.
• Directional twin-tip rides switch yet still tracks forward.

Cons

• The playful tune gives up top-end stability for chargers.
• At 105 mm it is average on firm hardpack, not a precise carver.
• Not the ski for pointing it and skiing fast through chop.

Verdict: The Majesty Dirty Bear XL is a genuinely fun, do-it-all freestyle ski that turns the whole mountain into a playground. Its 105 mm waist and directional twin-tip shape make soft snow, buttering and side-hits effortless, while enough edge hold keeps it honest on the way home. Accept that it trades top-end stability and firm-snow precision for that freedom, and you get one of the most playful ways to ski the whole hill.