Commencal

Andorran mountain sports brand | More than two decades of bike and ski development | Known for: freeride, freestyle and all-mountain skis, the Snow Project and rider-led development | Focus: playful gravity-oriented equipment created around year-round mountain life in Andorra.

From gravity bikes to skis born in the Andorran mountains

COMMENCAL is best known internationally for mountain bikes, but skiing is a genuine part of the company rather than a side merchandising project. The brand states that for more than two decades it has designed bikes, skis, clothing and lifestyle accessories around year-round outdoor use. Its products are developed from Andorra, where the company has built an identity around gravity sports, mountain terrain and direct access to both winter resorts and bike parks. That location gives the ski program a logical home: skiing becomes the winter expression of the same mountain culture that drives the company's downhill and freeride bikes.

The brand's current positioning is summed up by its Play All Year philosophy. COMMENCAL explicitly identifies wood as the material at the center of its skis and places ski development alongside its much larger bike activity. Its official company presentation also emphasizes competition, athlete feedback and mountain-based product development. For skiers, this creates a distinctive identity: COMMENCAL is not trying to imitate a traditional Alpine race manufacturer. Its ski range is shaped more by freestyle, freeride and gravity culture.

ABSOLUT CLASH META and SUPREME split the range by terrain

The current COMMENCAL ski catalog covers several distinct platforms rather than building one shape in different widths. ABSOLUT is the dedicated freestyle family. The current 2026 ABSOLUT is offered in 168, 176 and 182 centimeter lengths, with waist widths of 92 millimeters on the two shorter sizes and 94 millimeters on the 182. COMMENCAL describes it around big air, rails and slopestyle, with rubber reinforcement used to reduce vibration and absorb repeated impacts from rails and landings.

CLASH moves toward freeride and backcountry skiing. The current product page describes a shorter-turning and more agile evolution of the model, combining freeride intentions with enough pop for jumps. Depending on length, its waist sits from 102 to 106 millimeters. META occupies a narrower all-mountain space, with the current model ranging from 97 to 100 millimeters underfoot according to size. At the wider end, SUPREME FR is the powder-focused option, with the listed 187 centimeter model measuring 118 millimeters underfoot. The catalog also includes T.E.M.P.O., PASTA and dedicated kids models, giving COMMENCAL a broader ski range than its bike-first reputation might suggest.

Freestyle pop or freeride width changes the COMMENCAL feel

The range makes the most sense when separated by how the skier uses the mountain. ABSOLUT is the clearest specialist. Its relatively narrow platform and reinforced freestyle construction target skiers repeatedly hitting jumps, rails and shaped park features. COMMENCAL describes the ski around strong pop from the takeoff and enough tolerance toward the extremities to manage landings. That gives it a different purpose from a wide powder ski even though both belong to the same brand.

CLASH is designed for riders who want more surface area and versatility away from groomed pistes without giving up a playful response. Its freeride and backcountry positioning combines a wider platform with relatively short radii for its size. SUPREME FR pushes farther into deep-snow territory, while META brings the range back toward everyday all-mountain use. PASTA takes another direction entirely: the current model uses an 80 millimeter waist and a full poplar wood core, with COMMENCAL presenting it as a piste ski suitable for a broad range of ability levels and also engineered with rental use in mind.

Ian Serra and Paul Vieuxtemps put the Snow Project on snow

COMMENCAL's Snow Project gives the ski range a direct athlete-development layer. Ian Serra is one of the clearest examples. The Andorran freestyle skier grew up skiing Grandvalira and is listed by COMMENCAL as a Snow Project athlete. The brand says Serra continues to express his creativity at SLVSH events with COMMENCAL skis, connecting the company directly to the modern park and game-of-SKI scene rather than only to traditional competition.

Paul Vieuxtemps adds a more competition-oriented freestyle connection. COMMENCAL identifies him as a freeski athlete who developed at Les Orres before competing in FIS World Cups and European Cups. The company specifically states that he participates in developing its freestyle skis and rides the ABSOLUT. Victor Broquedis represents another side of the program, moving from alpine racing and junior freeride competition toward film and photo projects. Together, these riders show how COMMENCAL uses its ski roster across slopestyle, big air, freeride and creative media rather than relying on one discipline.

La Massana Grandvalira and Peretol make Andorra part of the product identity

COMMENCAL's geographic identity is unusually clear because the company operates from La Massana in Andorra. COMMENCAL Village sits close to Pal Arinsal and combines showroom, workshop, rental and hospitality functions. The company currently offers ski and snowboard rental from the Village in cooperation with a specialist partner, allowing its winter equipment to exist in the same physical environment as its bike operations.

The wider Andorran freeski scene strengthens that connection. Grandvalira provides the park terrain where Ian Serra developed, while Sunset Park Henrik Harlaut at Peretol has become a recurring venue for SLVSH sessions involving Serra and international park riders. COMMENCAL therefore has a geographic advantage that many bike companies entering snow sports would not have: its headquarters are already surrounded by functioning ski resorts, freestyle infrastructure and a local athlete scene capable of giving the Snow Project an authentic winter context.

Wood cores and sandwich construction keep the skis conventional underneath

Despite the brand's unconventional bike-to-ski identity, the ski construction itself follows established principles. COMMENCAL states broadly that wood is the material chosen for its skis, and individual model pages show how the core changes depending on use. The current PASTA uses a full poplar core, while SUPREME FR is specified with a Paulownia core. Earlier and current product families also use full sandwich construction and fiber reinforcement according to their intended program.

The important point is that COMMENCAL does not apply one construction formula to the entire collection. Freestyle equipment has to absorb rails and repeated hard landings, while freeride skis need a balance of stability, flotation and maneuverability. Lightweight freerando equipment introduces another compromise between uphill efficiency and downhill behavior. The brand's model structure reflects those different demands rather than trying to stretch one ski platform across every discipline.

Choose ABSOLUT for park CLASH for playful freeride and META for daily use

For park riders, ABSOLUT is the obvious starting point because COMMENCAL develops it specifically for freestyle. Its dimensions, reinforcement and athlete feedback all point toward jumps, rails, slopestyle and big air. A skier who spends most days outside the park should look elsewhere in the catalog instead of choosing it simply because it is associated with the brand's freestyle team.

CLASH is more appropriate for skiers who want a wider freeride platform that can still feel playful around natural jumps and backcountry features. META sits closer to an all-mountain daily ski, giving riders less width than CLASH while retaining more off-piste intent than a narrow piste model. SUPREME FR is the specialist choice for skiers deliberately seeking substantially more width for powder. PASTA is positioned toward groomed terrain and straightforward accessibility. The current COMMENCAL ski collection is therefore best approached by terrain first and model name second.

Why COMMENCAL feels different from a traditional ski manufacturer

COMMENCAL brings a mountain-bike mentality into skiing without reducing snow products to branding exercises. Its ski catalog contains distinct freestyle, freeride, all-mountain and piste platforms, while the Snow Project connects those products with riders who actually use and develop them. The visual culture surrounding the company also feels closer to gravity mountain biking, freeride filmmaking and park edits than to conventional ski-racing heritage.

That crossover is what makes COMMENCAL interesting in freeskiing. The company already understands athlete-driven product development, gravity sports, filming and mountain culture through its bike program, then applies those habits to winter equipment from an Andorran base where skiing is immediately accessible. It remains a more niche name in skiing than the largest dedicated ski manufacturers, but the combination of a real multi-model ski range, Andorran roots and an active freestyle and freeride roster gives COMMENCAL a legitimate place inside contemporary freeski culture.