XDR 88 Ti
If this review looks rather rich for an un-Recommended model, it’s because it’s a reprise of last year’s review when the XDR 88 Ti squeaked past the velvet rope and into our VIP room. A few new ballots from unadoring fans pushed it below our...S/Force 11
Salomon has a history of making skis that are light and quick edge to edge, so when the Lighter is Better trend in consumer goods took hold of the public imagination, Salomon was all over it. Like a lot of other brands, it worked with carbon and other fibers –...QST Lux 92
The new Salomon QST Lux 92 didn’t fall off our Recommended list due to lack of merit, but lack of test data. The little we gleaned from the lasses was reinforced by the scores from our lads, who skied the identical QST 92. Of all the returning models we...QST 106
If Salomon’s brand identity over the past forty years could be summarized in a single word, it would be “innovation.” The driver behind its history of successful new product introductions is a corporate culture grounded in extensive Research and Development (R&D). Salomon’s Annecy Design Center continues to launch breakthrough products capable of disrupting a market, such as last season’s Backcountry/Alpine Shift binding.
The same relentless devotion to R&D that made the Shift possible has spurred Salomon to re-design the QST 106 for the second season in a row. The list of the latest changes may sound like a handful of minor alterations, but together they turbo-boosted the QST 106’s Power score and its 20/20 Finesse score is even higher.
I confess I’ve been maintaining a soft-snow-days only liaison with a QST 106 since we first met, so my bias in its favor is engrained. I’m now seeing a 181cm 106, which strikes me as the perfect blend of flotation for soft snow and grip on hard snow. Instead of dreading the latter, I find the new QST 106 to be so natural and imbued with fluid fortitude that I stop noticing its width and simply ski. Even as the rpm’s ascend it stays the course, laying down long turns as if to the manner born.