Absolutely. The ski that I feel is possibly the best modern ski ever made was actually marketed as an intermediate level alpine ski or intended to be skied AT or telemark. The ski is the Blossom Snoras... also known as the Hart Pulse, Hart Stage 1 and Vist X-Free, but made by Blossom. The ski came onto the scene [I think] around 2003--at least 2003 was the first review I ever saw by someone in the states... done by
@epic on EpicSki. If I'm recalling correctly it was a fantastically glowing review--basically blowing away anything reviewed at the time across every category including edge hold--comparing against race skis of the era.
Thanks to
@Philpug I found the ski when he was involved with Hart--skiing it as the Stage 1... and I eventually bought Phil's pair from
@Living Proof who bought them from Phil. What I discovered owning the ski was that it was fairly soft feeling but loved to bend into an arc and loved to be pushed... anything from SL turns to GS to bumps and powder this ski could take it. I've skied them everywhere from Whiteface, to Summit County, to Yellow Stone Club and Big Sky... They rip.
If there is any question as to what they are capable of, see this (remember, this is a ski marketed as an intermediate to advanced all mountain ski or telemark ski):
The original ski claimed dimensions of 116-77-110, while the newer models claim 124-77-110. I eventually bought a pair of VIST X-Frees from the era that
@epic reviewed them (2004 I think) mostly out of curiosity... I laid my Blossom Snoras [last pair that Blossom had at the factory] skis base to base with them... same mold, same dimensions.
Sadly the ski only lives on as the Blossom Wind Shear, however this ski has metal in it and is much stiffer... the original did not, which is what made it so special. The latest iteration is good, but does not display the versatility that the older ski did. Suffice to say, this ski in one form or another (top sheet, claimed dimensions, etc.) has been around for about 15 years - largely unchanged.
I know
@Philpug has his "Once in a decade" ski, but I'd argue this is a "Once in a two-to-three decade" ski... they are that good, and were WAY ahead of their time when initially introduced. I, my wife, my brother, my dad, several of my friends and their kids all ski version of this ski--all skiers of varying ability, intermediate through expert. I classify these as the best ski I've ever been on... they truly handle anything at any level.