With the utility of its CFX Superfiber confirmed by the QST series, Salomon is extending its reliance on the stuff with a revival of its on-trail series, now known as XDR. (The series it replaces was called X-Drive.) As is common with a series based in the Frontside category, the XDR collection is hierarchical, meaning each model occupies a different price point. The star product is expected to be the XDR 84 Ti, a Finesse ski in a den of hard-core carvers.
We received appallingly few test cards on Salomon’s coterie of made-for-women Frontside models, all of which received a makeover in 2018. One of our testers’ perennial favorites, the Cira (125/78/106), now has a wood core and still sells for only $499, with bindings.
There’s quite a bit of new model activity in domains we don’t explore at Realskiers, Touring and Pipe & Park. With its expertise in lightweight designs, we’d expect Salomon’s MTN Explore models to be well suited to the unglamorous task of alpine ascent.