A typical encomium from one of the Footloose faithful encapsulates the Pinnacle 95’s personality: “Stable, responsive, very lightweight, not bulky. Holds edge through crud but remains playful and can change directions in an instant. Loved this…” Note the aptitude for instant direction change: the Pinnacle 95’s lightweight core contributes to lower swing weight, reducing turning effort, and its well-rockered baseline offers no resistance to foot steering.
If the Line Pandora 95 had a theme song, it would be “Surfer Girl.” When she isn’t surfing she’s swimming sideways, setting up for the next wave. Asking it to carve a clean arc on hard snow is like compelling an adolescent to stay after school and clean the erasers. It will do it, but only at her own pace and she will resent you forever for it.
Any ski with the geometry of a typical AMW model, including the NRGY 100, will handle well in powder; the more challenging conditions will be everyday hardpack and the heavy glop that is the aftermath of corn. This is where the NRGY 100’s latticework of Titanal shows its mettle, boosting stability on edge on firm snow and imparting sufficient strength to push slush berms aside.
Like many skis this wide, the NRGY 100 takes a moment to connect at the top of the turn, and its innate turn shape is giddy-up long. These properties suggest that the preferred pilot for an NRGY 100 be someone who is comfortable hewing close to the fall line and isn’t perturbed by higher speeds. But the NRGY 100 doesn’t feel like a runaway train; it’s more like a family-friendly roller coaster that feels securely connected to the track.
Over the unusually long arc of its existence, the Mantra has morphed every few seasons, putting on a few mm’s of girth one year, adding a dab of early rise to the tip another. The latest stage in its evolution, which debuted two seasons ago, was also the most dramatic, resulting in a significant change in the Mantra’s personality.
Völkl didn’t change the Mantra’s composition – it’s still a classic combo of wood and Titanal – but they changed everything else, going from a fully cambered ski to a double rocker design that is bone-flat underfoot and rockered at tip and tail. The alterations allow the new Mantra to swivel around in soft snow, making it much more forgiving in the off-piste conditions. The premium previously placed on pilot proficiency and precision no longer pertains.
The Stormrider 100 Motion doesn’t like to wait. It’s as eager as every other Stöckli to show its owner what happens when a nation of watchmakers applies its fetish for precision to building a performance ski. It aims its prow into powder with the enthusiasm of a kid rope-swinging into a pond. It exudes an all-in attitude that inspires aerial entries.
Crud skiing requires courage. The herky-jerky gait of slow-speed struggles through the slop doesn’t auger well for ramping up the aggression. Yet stomping on the accelerator is the only way to make manky crud manageable. Some skis fold like a lawn chair under this stress. The Stormrider 100 Motion lives for it.