Quest Access W
Neither the Quest Access W family nor our 2016 assessment of its virtues have changed; while this commentary is a repost of last season’s report, the associated FIND buttons connect to 2017 starting inventory. We hope the main reason Salomon created the Quest Access...QST 99
With a forebody that’s both amply rockered and tapered, the QST 99 is screaming, “I wanna go off-trail!” as loudly as a sugar-addled urchin ululating from his parent’s shopping cart. What it’s craving is a large dose of cut-up crud or wind-crusted berms it can chop into mincemeat. Taking it off trail is the best way to get the QST 99’s tips to settle down.
While hefty lads and hard chargers might crave more metal than the dollop Salomon places underfoot, skiers with a slightly more mellow attitude will appreciate how maneuverable the QST 99 is for a ski in this category.
QST Stella 106
Making lighter weight skis has been a Salomon specialty since it concocted the first commercially successful monocoque skis many moons ago. Now Salomon has made what is probably its best women’s powder ski ever, the QST Stella 106 and, rich with irony, it proudly rides on “Full Sandwich Sidewalls 360o,” or in more conventional terms, square sidewalls.
QST 118
The Salomon QST 118 is all about the drift. It likes to smudge the top of the turn, swivel a smidge in the middle and pivot as it drifts to the finish. If a turn were a performance of Hamlet, the QST 118 would show up near the end of Act II and leave before Act IV.
Aside from its smear tactics, the most noticeable trait of the QST 118 is its light weight, less than 2kg in a 185cm, which is a blessing considering its surface area, roughly the same square mileage as Montenegro. All you have to do to guide the QST 118 through powder is push it around; advanced technical skills aren’t required.