Fischer has spent the last few seasons behind the R&D curtain re-imagining its entire Ranger collection of off-trail models. The result is a family of hybrids that blend the two branches of the previous Ranger clan, the surfy FR series and the more connected Ti models. All the new Rangers get a dose of .5mm-thick Titanal underfoot married to a fairly loose tip and tail. As befits the family name, they all have a decidedly off-trail bias.
Fans of earlier Rangers will find the new series are more closely related behaviorally to the easy-to-smear FR models of yore than to the metal-laden Ti fraternity. The lighter weight (all poplar) core of the Ranger 90 suggests it might be a good option for living a double life as an in-resort/backcountry, all-purpose partner-in-climb. Its Aeroshape exterior further enables foot steering by reducing resistance when rotating a flat ski.
The Ranger 90 encourages its navigator to assume a centered stance and take advantage of a double-rockered baseline that makes it easier to drift to an edge than ride a continuous rail. There are skiers who swoon over this facility at swiveling, but Realskiers’ scoring criteria puts more emphasis on carving accuracy in every phase of the turn, while the Ranger 90 concentrates its gripping power underfoot. If carving is more your thing, Fischer’s RC One 86 GT is one of the most powerful and accurate trench-diggers in the All-Mountain East genre. The Ranger 90 derives from the opposite side of the carve/drift schism.
Skiers who want a more substantial ski under them (in the Ranger series) should step up to either the Ranger 96 or Ranger 102, both of which mix denser beech into the otherwise poplar core. When choosing which Ranger to ride, bear in mind that Fischer draws no distinction, other than color and size range, between men’s and women’s models. (This is actually a fairly common practice in off-trail model series.) Note also that there’s a broader size selection in the women’s versions of the Ranger 96 WS and Ranger 102 WS, so men can easily traverse the gender divide should they prefer a brighter palette underfoot.
