2021 Salomon Stance 96
1

Ski Stats

Sidecut 132/96/114
Radius 20m@ 182cm
Lengths 168,176,182,188
Weight 1940g @ 182cm
MSRP $850
FIND
Power Score:

Finesse Score:

3
1
0
There are two opposing archetypes for a wide, all-terrain ski: light and smeary or beefy and more connected. Salomon had the surfy side covered with the OST 99; its new Stance 96 is meant to wrestle with wood-and-metal powerhouses like the Blizzard Bonafide and Nordica Enforcer 100. Salomon wasn’t going to win this battle with a cap construction, so the Stance 96 uses square sidewalls. To match up with metal you have to use Titanal, so the Stances are equipped with “Twin Frame” Ti laminates. You can’t get a wood core feel without a wood core, so all the unisex Stance models have an all-poplar center. All that said, the Stance 96 doesn’t strictly imitate the benchmark skis that it presumes to supersede. Its rockered tip works better when buffering blows against loose snow; it feels a little loose on groomers and consequently a bit late into the top of the turn. But when it’s fully laid over it grips confidently regardless of the snow surface. The Stance 96 handles speed well, which is a good thing, as it likes to hew closely to the fall line. Its long turn shape is the product of an narrow tail that helps keep the skier oriented downhill. A rectangular cutout in the Titanal topsheet pares off a few ounces so the Stance 96 feels more agile than its girth measures.
Going into the 20/21 season, Salomon has been riding a hot streak. Its footwear business is booming and it remains the dominant force in Alpine boots, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Its introduction of the Switch binding two seasons ago not only took the backcountry market by storm, it seemed to reinvigorate Salomon’s passion for cutting-edge R&D. Over the span of several seasons, its QST ski collection has served as a laboratory for refining how to combine carbon, flax and basalt to create a lightweight chassis damp enough to drive through cut-up crud without wobbling.

But there remained a hole in its resume. The C/FX twine that served so well in an off-trail series didn’t pack the same punch on piste. Salomon’s XDR series of Frontside models were welterweights entering a ring stocked to the hilt with heavyweights. This misfit not only put a crimp in sales, it also meant that influential shop employees who wanted a hard charging, all-purpose tool would look elsewhere for their daily driver.

Salomon plugged the leak in its Frontside offering by introducing the S/Force series last year. The flagship S/Force Bold is laden with enough Titanal to ride smoothly over an ice field, but this same trait limits it as an all-terrain tool.

This left the QST’s to duke it out in the pivotal All-Mountain genres with a phalanx of wood-and-metal powerhouses like the Blizzard Bonafide and Nordica Enforcer 100, another David v. Goliath cage match. For Salomon to get back in the discussion as the ski brand to watch – remember the X-Scream? – the French R&D machine needed to go toe-to-toe with the established stars.

The reason for this elaborate backstory is that the new Stance series is Salomon’s response to this situation. It wasn’t going to win this battle with a cap construction, so the Stance models use square sidewalls. To match up with metal you have to use Titanal, so the Stances are equipped with “Twin Frame” Ti laminates. You can’t get a wood core feel without a wood core, so all the unisex Stance models have an all-poplar center.

All that said, the Stance 96 doesn’t strictly imitate the benchmark skis that it presumes to supersede. Its rockered tip works better when buffering blows against loose snow; it’s feels a little loose on groomers and consequently a bit late into the top of the turn. But when it’s fully laid over it grips confidently regardless of the snow surface.

The Stance 96 handles speed well, which is a good thing as it likes to hew closely to the fall line. Its long natural turn shape is the product of an unusually narrow tail that helps keep the skier oriented downhill. A rectangular cutout in the Titanal topsheet pares off a few ounces so the Stance 96 feels a little more agile than its girth would suggest. All in, the Stance 96 has a balanced blend of Power and Finesse properties. In its battle to win back the hearts of the best all-terrain skiers, Salomon is now well armed.

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