The Faction Nine.5 is an All-Mountain ski that favors any Finesse skier from intermediate to advanced; its broad ability range could be attributable to Faction’s unique transition zones between the rockered tip (10mm elevation) and tail (5mm) and the cambered (2mm) center section that make a long, strong ski feel shorter and easily re-directed. If the Nine.5 has a particular affinity for off-trail conditions, the culprit lies in its baseline that pulls the front rocker back 20cm from the tip and keeps the tail off the snow for 10cm. What remains in contact with mother earth is fairly stout, bolstered by a full sheet of Titanal that won’t let the Nine.5 get bossed around in set-up crud.
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.
The key to the Samba’s go-anywhere attitude lies in its Flip Core baseline that predisposes the forebody to ride over anything in front of it without disconnecting it from the rest of the ski. As soon as the Samba is laid over, the skier can depend on every centimeter of the ski supporting her. Secure enough on edge to carve all day, the Samba saves its best moves for soft snow, where it helps the uninitiated learn to mix smearing and steering into a lively downhill dance.
