QST 106
When Salomon concocted the QST line, it didn’t just make one construction cut into 4 different silhouettes; it made 4 distinct skis, each with its own, adapted construction. In our panel’s opinion, the QST 106 is the best among unequals. We don’t just recommend the QST 106; we believe it’s moved to the head of its class in the Big Mountain genre.
If you attack the fall line like a German Shepard attacks his dinner, then you’ll probably find one of our Power picks to be preferable. But if you’re like most powder skiers well past their adolescence, you like to enjoy the embrace of every turn, sinking into a sequence of soft swooshes as gently as you’d slip into a warm Jacuzzi.
X-Max X14 Carbon
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Crisp turn entry, clear snow sensations shining through the turn midsection and confident finishing power are traits any Frontside ski would be proud to possess. Salomon’s X-Drive 8.0 FS is built on these principles and it lives up to them every day it’s allowed out to ski.
The X-Drive 8.0 FS gets its gumption from a blend of three dampening elements. Like it’s big bro, the 8.8 FS, it uses basalt as a base layer, then adds a sheet of Titanal and an X-shaped structure over the rocker zones to keep them from acting up. This creates “a great combination of edge grip (torsional stiffness) and off-piste versatility,” pens Sturtevant’s Olin Glenne, placing it on his personal podium in the Frontside category.