S/Max Blast
Salomon’s Technical skis must feel like Rodney Dangerfield: they can’t get no respect, no respect at all, I tell ya. The S/Max Blast was a new ski only last year, and still hardly anyone in our test panel took them for a spin. This is but one measure of how the QST...Redster X9
[While there has been a slight shift in scores due to new data, both the Redster X9 and this review are unchanged from last year.]
How is it possible to make a better Technical ski than Atomic’s Redster X9? It has the stability of a sumo wrestler and the reflexes of a fencer. If there’s a speed at which the edge breaks loose, chances are you’ll never touch it. Its imperturbable hold is amplified by a feature called Servotec, a long, thin rod embedded in an elastomer under the binding at one end and attached on the other end at a point just behind the shovel. The interaction of the rod and the elastomer during flexion both absorbs shock and actively restores ski/snow contact.
Servotec’s effects are noticeable both in straight running and especially in energized turns, where the X9’s rebound qualities are off the charts. “Really great for a ‘beer league’ ski!” raves one of The Sport Loft faithful. “Lots of fun, if a little stout.” To this tester’s point, one has to be able to impart energy in order for Servotec to kick in, but any athletic expert should be up to this challenge. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked, like the tester who wrote, “Feels like an old friend right away. Ski begs for speed like a junkie. Nifty rebound carries skier to next turn It’s easy to lean into and trust.”
Cloud 12
[Neither the Cloud 12 nor its scores have changed since this review was posted two seasons ago.]
There isn’t an ounce of condescension in Atomic’s Cloud 12. Of course it doesn’t meet FIS specs, but that’s the whole point of the Technical category, to apply race room production to more versatile shapes. It retains two game-changing features that separate it, behaviorally, from the rest of the field.
The first feature to catch the eye is a rod that runs from under the binding, where it’s anchored in an elastomer base, to roughly the center of the forebody. Called Servotec, the rod is pre-stressed, so its rest position is already exerting down force on the front of the ski. When the ski is bowed during a turn, the tension on the rod relaxes; when the load on the ski is released, the rod’s recoil snaps the ski back on the snow, making edge changes feel both super accurate and totally magical.
The Cloud 12 isn’t made for the lackadaisical carver who wants to hang out on the tail end of a turn long enough to check her messages. The second self-evident feature that helps define the Cloud 12’s behavior is its svelte shape. This streamlined rocket thinks of recreational runs as another opportunity to win something, taking off down the fall line as if suddenly freed from a bad relationship.
Intense 12
[Neither the Intense 12 nor its scores have changed since this review was posted two seasons ago.]
Powerdrive is Dynastar’s name for a 3-piece sidewall which functions as a unique damping system. Stacked on edge alongside the core, it consists of a soft inner layer, a hard center section and a dynamic outer wall. Any time a viscoelastic material, like that used in the inner piece of Powerdrive, is bonded to Titanal (center part), the resulting element will act as a natural shock absorber, so the forebody of the Intense 12, where the Powerdrive feature resides, should stay nice and quiet on hard snow.
But Powerdrive serves another, more vital function: by un-coupling the core from the outer sidewall, the central laminates that dictate the ski’s behavior are allowed to shear, moving as the ski is pressured. This enhanced suppleness allows the ski to respond to subtle variations in the snow surface, maintaining contact, control and speed.