Black Crows

Black Crows is a French independent high-end ski brand based in Chamonix, designing skis, poles and technical outerwear with a strong freeride and high-altitude reputation. Skiers value the brand's playful, mountain-bred character and the craft behind its range. If you want skis born out of a real alpine culture rather than a mass catalogue, the price tends to feel justified.

If you are unsure where to start, the do-it-all all-mountain ski in the range is the most forgiving entry point, handling groomers, trees and steeps without demanding expert technique. From there you can branch into the brand's more specialised high-altitude and touring models as your skiing evolves. Matching the ski to your terrain matters more than chasing the most aggressive model.

Black Crows was founded in 2006 by French professional skiers Camille Jaccoux and Bruno Compagnet, together with ski industry leader Christophe Villemin. The brand was born out of a desire to collide beauty and efficiency into skis. That skier-led origin is a big part of its credibility on the mountain.

Black Crows is a French brand based in Chamonix, France, one of the spiritual homes of big-mountain skiing. That alpine setting is woven into the brand's identity as a high-altitude, freeride-focused house. It is no accident that the skis are tuned for serious mountain terrain.

Black Crows launched its first line of skis, the Corvus, in 2006, the same year the brand was founded. Since then it has built out a range for different skiers and styles and become known for its high-altitude skis. The Corvus set the tone for the brand's mountain-first approach.

Yes. Black Crows launched its first women's range, birdie, in 2014. Alongside it, the brand also offers ski touring options through the freebird range introduced in 2012. So whether you ski resort lines or earn your turns in the backcountry, there is a dedicated line for it.

It does. Beyond skis, Black Crows released its first range of ski poles in 2013 and presented its first outerwear range, Corpus, in 2015. The clothing line is extensive, with hoodies, base layers and jackets, and poles like the Meta. That lets you kit out across the whole mountain day from one brand.

The brand is stylised as blackcrows (lower case, one word), reflecting its design-forward, independent identity. Founded by skiers who wanted to collide beauty and efficiency into skis, the look matches the philosophy. It is a deliberately distinctive identity for a high-end alpine house.

Black Crows is a French, Chamonix-based independent that leans into freeride and high-altitude skiing, which gives it a different flavour from larger mainstream ski makers. Its skier-founded story and focus on beauty plus efficiency appeal to riders who want character as much as performance. Choose it when you want a brand steeped in real mountain culture.

As a general rule with high-end skis, the widest model and size selection appears ahead of and early in the winter season, while end-of-season is when last year's models become easier to find. For a specialised brand like Black Crows, deciding on the right model and length for your terrain matters more than timing. Buy from official or authorised ski retailers so you get genuine gear and proper sizing advice.