Fischer has been tinkering with its off-trail Ranger collection over the span of several seasons, searching for the fine line between lightweight, with its attendant ease of operation, and elite carving capability that can handle the transition to hard snow. For 20/20, the Ranger 99 Ti tilts the scales in favor of stability, amping up the carving power by reverting to square, ABS sidewalls straddling a classic, wood-and-Titanal sandwich. A carbon inlay in the tip lowers swingweight and overall mass, which is substantial enough (+150g vs. 18/19 Ranger 98 Ti) to keep it calm on corduroy, yet feels comparatively light when tearing through crud.
A veteran tester from Joe’s Ski Shop [MN] summarizes his impressions of some of the Ranger 99 Ti’s more subtle changes: “The 19/20 model has a slight construction change from the 18/19 model – a change in the core materials and a bit less tip and tail rocker. Makes the ski a bit better at tip engagement with a bit more all-mountain feel to it over last year’s ski. Overall, I’d say it makes what was a very good ski even better, especially for in-bounds skiing out West where you can go from powder to groomed to crud all in one run.”
Like any ski with metal in its make-up, the evolv100 isn’t light as a feather, but it’s so well balanced and responsive to steering input that even the most irregular snow requires less effort to navigate. Its ability to maintain its composure when under assault by adverse conditions allows the pilot to relax, a real energy saver on a pow day. By my thoroughly unscientific estimate, the average advanced skier can add up to three more runs per ski day just by switching to the evolv100.
When Jim Schaffner likes a ski, you know it can hold up to a hard, sustained edge set delivered by a superb technician. After running it through a gamut of mid-winter snow varieties at Snow Basin (UT), Schaffner came away impressed. “This was a great all-rounder. It performed well in the mixed snow conditions.”
For its even temperament and energy-saving equanimity in rough terrain, we award the Liberty evolv100 a Silver Skier Selection.
Enrobing a ski in a coating of carbon is like dosing it with Xanax; it calms the nerves and helps it focus on the task at hand. The inescapable comparative adjectives are “silkier” and “smoother.” With no metal underneath its ebony hide, Elan’s Ripstick 96 Black Edition needs something other than Titanal to give it the sangfroid required to batter crud aside. Its carbon sheath muffles the rough edges caused by crud-busting without hauling around the extra ounces Titanal entails.
In lighter, softer, generally more congenial off-road conditions, the Ripstick 96 Black raises its game. It doesn’t matter if the depth of the latest layer is 3 centimeters or 3 feet, put any kind of cushion under it and it will practically purr with gratitude. Because it skis narrow, it’s also easier to find a high edge angle, which helps keep its rockered tip from getting twitchy and makes negotiating tight gaps in trees dependent more on the science of technique and less on the power of prayer.
The Elan Ripstick 96 is in the vanguard of the Lighter is Better movement. The core combines vertical laminates of two lightweight woods, poplar and Paulownia, sandwiched between sheets of fiberglass. To dampen the ride and add energy out of the turn, two 3mm-diameter carbon rods run the length of the ski near the edge, tracing the path of the sidecut in CNC machined grooves near the base of the core. Inlays made from a synthetic dampening agent, called Vapor Tip inserts, are integrated into the shovel to boost the lightweight chassis’ ability to absorb shock.
Another major contributor to the Ripstick 96’s high scores for ease of operation is Elan’s unique asymmetric Amphibio design that abbreviates edge contact on the outside edge – i.e., adds rocker to it – while maximizing snow contact on the inside edge. For practitioners of continuous carving in which two edges are always riding on an unbroken, parallel path, the Amphibio design makes carving feel as natural as walking.
Just last season Salomon improved the hard snow performance of the QST 99 by adding basalt to its foundational carbon/flax (C/FX) fibers. For 20/20, Salomon has re-configured its primary elements, mixing the basalt and carbon elements and using the flax in its own layer under the binding zone. The net effect is to augment the sense of support, not just underfoot, where there’s also a slice of Titanal, but all along the baseline.
Two other changes to the ski design contribute mightily to the QST 99’s infusion of power and improved snow contact: 4mm’s of width have been pared away from both the tip and tail, so the new version doesn’t automatically try to steer out of the fall line, and the substitution of cork for Koroyd in the shovel. Salomon asserts that the “Cork Damplifier” is 16 times more proficient at absorbing shock and even lighter weight. With its new, trimmer silhouette, a 181cm QST 99 weighs 65g less this year compared to the 2018/19 version, while improving its Stability at Speed score from 7.80 to 8.43, the best score in the genre for a non-metal ski.
