Back in the early 2000’s, when I was ski testing for SKI magazine, it seemed to me that every Stöckli I essayed cut a beeline for the base lodge, like a high-strung Super G that wanted to win every run. To this day, most Stöcklis still have a higher speed ceiling than normal, but they no longer all ski the same. Even within the Stormrider family, where all models are meant to mind their manners in problematic off-trail conditions, their personality differences are as sharply defined as their commonalities.  In other words, the Stormrider 95 and Stormrider 88 don’t ski like twins with different waistlines; each is its own animal, despite all their shared DNA.

In a head-to-head comparison with the Stormrider 95, the Stormrider 88 comes off as the lesser ski, literally, in trait after trait.  In a drift, it has less surface area, so it can be tripped up by slop piles the 95 planes over.  On a high edge, it has less torsional rigidity (due to its proportionately narrower Ti laminates), so it’s missing a smidgeon of grip on hard snow. When fully loaded and laid over – a position many Stöcklis call home – it’s not quite as energetic off the edge. The SR 95 even feels a tad quicker in short, sharply edged arcs, where you’d think the SR 88 would prevail. And the SR 95 seems as easy to steer from a centered stance as it does when the pilot is loading the tip, a position the SR 88 seems to prefer.

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The Fischer RC One 86 GT is to all intents and purposes a hard-snow carving specialist with a waist just plump enough to put it in the company of a bunch of all-terrain generalists. In an effort to blend in, the RC One 86 GT has a tiny splay of tip rocker, and a tail rocker so tiny it should be called a rockette.

This masquerade lasts only as long as it takes to get the ski on the snow, where there’s no disguising its tip-to-tail connection.  A 175cm seems like plenty of ski even at the upper reaches of the recreational speed range, which its ultra-supportive edge invites one to inhabit.  You can set it to reel off medium-radius turns with the unalterable precision of a metronome. “Solid and rhythmic,” enthused Jan’s Jack Walzer after taking the RC One 86 GT for a spin.

Mark Rafferty of Peter Glenn filed this report after skiing the 86 GT in spring conditions at Squaw Valley. “A fun, strong entry in Fischer’s carve-oriented family of skis. I could feel the strength of the ski’s construction as I angled it for fast, high-g turns. It held great in icy conditions early in the morning and sliced through slushy snow after conditions softened. Fast or slow, the ski kept me in control in a most invigorating fashion.”

The Enforcer 94 gets a new number to underscore that it’s an entirely new ski, and not just an exercise in relabeling. Whenever a brand invests in new molds it represents an opportunity to re-examine every detail. For the Enforcer 94, this meant creating five new sizes, each with a unique baseline and sidecut. Adjusting the rocker/camber intersections for every length results in a ski that feels fully cambered, its abrupt but brief rocker zones solid and unflappable, both literally and figuratively speaking.

I’m not sure if the Enforcer 94 can actually confer expert status on anyone who steps into a pair, but it sure won’t hold anyone back. It’s a nearly perfect ski in that a lateral drift or trench-cutting carve is immediately accessible at all times. Every movement feels intuitive, unforced and integrated with the flow of the mountain.

It’s hard to pigeonhole the Enforcer 94 as a specialist at any one thing, for it has the chameleonesque ability to be whatever its pilot wants it to be. The key to its mutability is how mindlessly simple it is to transition from a crisp edge to a friction-free drift. This facility is what makes the Enforcer 94 to masterful in any terrain, from brittle hardpack to fluffy powder and every crud-junk-chowder consistency in between. It’s the epitome of an all-terrain tool.

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Depending on where and how you ski, the Maverick 88 Ti may be the best of the top 3 models in the new all-mountain series from Atomic, despite residing on the lowest rung of the pricing ladder.  It arcs the best short-radius turns of the bunch despite a mid-radius sidecut that’s equally comfortable when allowed to run for the barn. Its tail is supportive without being flashy, gradually releasing its grip as it crosses the turn transition.

As the narrowest of the Maverick Ti trio, the 88 Ti is the best fit for today’s arrhythmic bumps, and its ability to access a short arc in a jiffy is a huge asset in the trees.  When I let it run on a long, gradual ballroom on the sunny side of Mt. Rose, it remained predictable and trustworthy as I raked up the edge angle, banking off a receptive layer of solar-softened cream.  Its baseline is more cambered than its siblings (15/75/10), so there’s a longer platform under the pilot in all conditions, without sacrificing its ability to swivel a turn in a pinch.

I’m not sure I would have been so confident on a surface much steeper and harder; after all, the Maverick 88 Ti is, in concept and execution, an off-trail ski.  It’s ready and willing to smear at all times, although its secure edge is always there for the summoning should circumstances change on the fly. Its tips would prefer that the snow find it, rather than the other way around. This makes it a hero in spring snow, where its rockered forebody can buffer the blows delivered by ever-softening conditions. Bear in mind, it earned its highest marks for forgiveness and other Finesse traits, so it shines on softer surfaces.

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 If you digest all the brochure copy expended on All-Mountain East models, you’ll find somewhere in every model description that it’s a “50/50” model, meaning it’s equally suited to skiing on-trail or off. What this seemingly innocuous shorthand term for a versatile ski masks is that no ski can ever truly be half-and-half, for every model is part of a design family that ‘s inherently biased to one side of the mountain or the other.

This prelude explains why Salomon felt compelled to create a second off-trail line, named Stance, when they already had a successful freeride series in the QST’s. The latter are unmistakably meant for the off-piste, while the Stance 90 tilts the 50/50 equation in favor of Frontside features, beginning with two sheets of Titanal and a shallower sidecut with a more slender silhouette that’s quicker edge to edge. Its square tail in particular is appreciably narrower than the norm in the AME genre, which keeps its orientation down the fall line.

The impression of quickness off the edge is enhanced by its lightweight design that in fact weighs less than the QST 92 and far less than Salomon’s Frontside flagship, the S/Force Bold. Its lightweight structure certainly contributed to our testers giving it higher aggregate scores for Finesse properties versus Power attributes, the only one of our top eight Recommended models to do so.

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 The fraternal relationship between Blizzard’s two All-Mountain East entries, the elder brother Brahma 88 and its upstart sibling, the Rustler 9, encapsulates the contrasting cast of characters that populate this crossroads category.  While both skis belong to off-trail families, their personalities couldn’t be more different than, well, two brothers.

The Brahma 88 is the Type A personality that exudes strength and resolve. For a ski with a double-rockered baseline, it handles like a technical ski that’s accurate in every phase of a turn. Its baby bro, the Rustler 9, is not interested in following its elder’s tracks. Its comparatively loose, tapered tip wants to party. The Titanal laminate just below its topskin restores order underfoot, but nothing can suppress its youthful exuberance.

Scott Sahr from Aspen Ski and Board identified the Rustler 9’s topline traits when it debuted several seasons ago: “Light, easy to change turn shape, with perfect playfulness/stability ratio. Also, rocker is not over done; good loft with minimal tip vibrations.” Bob Gleason from Boot Doctors in Telluride gave the same diagnosis: “Notice the light feel and ease in directional change and quickness,” says the ever-ebullient Bob. “Does a delightful dance through the bumps and tight places. Best for the intermediate to lower level advanced,” prescribes Dr. Gleason.

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The Experience collection – EXP, for short – has formed the commercial core of the Rossignol collection for as long as memory serves.  As originally conceived, the Experience family served the large population of skiers with aspirations of all-terrain skiing who spent most of their time on the groomed, frontside of the mountain. It was the one product family that served the entire ability spectrum, from never-ever to accomplished expert.

Please indulge a brief stroll down memory lane, as it serves as an instructive backdrop to the new EXP series.  At the top of the first Experience family was the E98, sporting two full sheets of Titanal around an all-wood core. It was as torsionally stiff as rebar and took no guff from any terrain, from diamond-hard boilerplate to clumpy crud.  It was every cm an experts-only ski.  Many of our members stil revere it, I’m sure.

But the star of the line, in terms of sales, was never the E98, or its successor, the Experience 100, but the next step down in the line, the E88. Without the burly Titanal laminates, the E88 was more playful and easier for less skilled skiers to have their way with. I don’t know what the actual sales figures are, but in its heyday the E88 had to be one of the best-selling skis on the American market.

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K2 completely changed every core model in its 19/20 line, without straying one centimeter from its core values. True, the Mindbenders are built differently than the Pinnacles of yesteryear, using all wood cores in their Ti incarnations (say ta-ta to Nano-tech), and more Titanal in the tail section to increase rear support compared to the passé Pinnacles.

Even though the Mindbender Ti series, of which the 90Ti is the narrowest, aims for a better class of skier (if you’ll pardon the expression), they’re not so stout they can’t be controlled by adventurous intermediates. The Mindbenders’ Ti Y-Beam construction puts Titanal over the edge in the forebody but moves it away from edge in the tail. This adjusts the skis’ torsional rigidity requirements to create more bite in the forebody and easier release of the tail, without affecting their even, balanced flex longitudinally.

Light and responsive to a gentle hand on the reins, the Mindbender 90Ti may at first blush feel a tad too loose in the tip to trust at warp speed, but it proves trustworthy if given a chance to run at high rpms. An elevated platform connected to the core by its robust sidewall gives the Mindbender 90 Ti turbo power when rolled on edge. “It turns the way you ask it to and holds with confidence on hardpack,” attests Ward Pyles from Peter Glenn. “Great all-mountain,” confirms the concise Karl Jacobson from Jan’s.

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