The Automatic range comes in two waist sizes (109 and 102); we got our hands on the larger of the two which was preferable for the sidecountry powder that was in abundance at the ski tests; that said the two options for length of the 109 mean it will probably appeal to fewer skiers than the 102, which comes in 164 and 180.
The 109 is up against stiff opposition from the likes of the Rossignol Soul 7 and Line Sir Francis Bacon, two of our tester's favourite freeride skis; however, we found the Automatic 109 to be great fun off-piste especially at speed and in big turns where it felt noticeably smoother and more nippy than on piste - as you might expect given that this is a freeride ski.
That said it's hard to avoid pistes however much of a freeride fanatic you are, and here the Automatic 109 struggled a bit in hard turns on hard packed or icy groomers, although it was plenty grippy on softer pistes.
However, no one buys a freeride ski expecting outstanding performance on the groomers, so this isn't a major issue for us; indeed, as a pure freeride ski the Automatic 109 is a good choice that will allow advanced and expert skiers to have lots of fun in the pow.
