Let the record show that no ski made as giant a leap forward in 2020 as the Salomon QST 92. In its two earlier incarnations it barely met our Recommended minimum standards, barely hanging on the tail end of the Finesse ski standings. Now it resides at the top, and the result is no fluke.
The new QST has more of everything you want – edging power on trail, a better shape for off-trail, a more solid platform – and less of what you don’t want: tip chatter, indifferent grip, overall looseness. Salomon pulled off this coup by reconfiguring how it used its primary components, flax, basalt and, of course, carbon. The basalt and carbon are now woven together in an end-to-end matrix, while the flax gets its own mat directly underfoot. An all-poplar core is reinforced by a patch of Titanal in the mid-section and finished with new cork inserts in the tip and tail.
Just last season Salomon improved the hard snow performance of the QST 99 by adding basalt to its foundational carbon/flax (C/FX) fibers. For 20/20, Salomon has re-configured its primary elements, mixing the basalt and carbon elements and using the flax in its own layer under the binding zone. The net effect is to augment the sense of support, not just underfoot, where there’s also a slice of Titanal, but all along the baseline.
Two other changes to the ski design contribute mightily to the QST 99’s infusion of power and improved snow contact: 4mm’s of width have been pared away from both the tip and tail, so the new version doesn’t automatically try to steer out of the fall line, and the substitution of cork for Koroyd in the shovel. Salomon asserts that the “Cork Damplifier” is 16 times more proficient at absorbing shock and even lighter weight. With its new, trimmer silhouette, a 181cm QST 99 weighs 65g less this year compared to the 2018/19 version, while improving its Stability at Speed score from 7.80 to 8.43, the best score in the genre for a non-metal ski.
The Enforcer 110 has taken possession of the top spot in the Big Mountain class, and not just based on its metal-charged power. Its edge is so stable that even at low edge angles the skier never has to fight to hold on, a common woe on hard snow with double-rockered, super-wide skis. Its performance envelope is as big as your imagination. It has the strength to batter through the stiffest crud, edge grip that can cope with hard snow and a shape that moves with ease through the deep stuff. “True to the Enforcer line, the 110 has an uncanny blend of big-ski float and directional fortitude, with a quickness and rebound that will have you tap dancing in the tight spots,” notes Boot Doctors’ indefatigable Bob Gleason.
