Stormrider 107
Average test scores don’t always align in lock-step with the on-snow behavior they’re intended to reflect, but if you look at the highs and lows of the Stöckli Stormrider 107’s scores, a clear – and accurate – image appears.
Looking at the lows, slow-speed turning has never been a Stöckli priority; you only have to ski a pair once and you’ll discover why. Short-radius turns are tough for any 107mm ski and the multi-level metal structure doesn’t make the Stormrider feel any quicker. It would be earlier to the edge if Stöckli hadn’t rockered the 107’s tip in a rare kowtow to conventional wisdom for the Swiss.
Stormrider 100 Motion
The Stormrider 100 Motion doesn’t like to wait. It’s as eager as every other Stöckli to show its owner what happens when a nation of watchmakers applies its fetish for precision to building a performance ski. It aims its prow into powder with the enthusiasm of a kid rope-swinging into a pond. It exudes an all-in attitude that inspires aerial entries.
Crud skiing requires courage. The herky-jerky gait of slow-speed struggles through the slop doesn’t auger well for ramping up the aggression. Yet stomping on the accelerator is the only way to make manky crud manageable. Some skis fold like a lawn chair under this stress. The Stormrider 100 Motion lives for it.
Stormrider 85 Motion
Most of the skis in this genre lean more to the off-trail side of the terrain ledger, but the Stöckli Stormrider 85 Motion is partial to hard packed powder. Skiers familiar with Stöckli’s history know that its roots are in racing, so much so that for several seasons some of their Stormriders skied more like obese Super G skis than freeride models.
But the Stormrider 85 Motion has trimmed down since that era and the current incarnation is, if anything, too flexy in the forebody for some of our crew who’ve essayed the Motion for years. But comparing the 2017 Motion to previous editions isn’t as useful to the current ski buyer as comparing it to the rest of today’s market and in that context, the Stormrider du jour comes across as a powerful carving machine.
Stormrider 83
The newest edition to the Stormrider family is also its narrowest, but don’t get the idea in your head that the 83 is Stormrider Lite: it still built with 2 ½ layers of Titanal and is heavy enough to knock down castle walls.
In Stöckli-World, the frontside of the mountain is Laser country; Stormriders belong off-trail or somewhere out in the backcountry. That the Stormrider 83 performs so admirably on groomed runs is testament to Super G genes; Stöcklis always seem to ski like every run is being timed.