Salomon’s Technical skis must feel like Rodney Dangerfield: they can’t get no respect, no respect at all, I tell ya. The S/Max Blast was a new ski only last year, and still hardly anyone in our test panel took them for a spin. This is but one measure of how the QST series has become the focus of the Salomon collection, blotting out any awareness of the rest of the line. The S/Max Blast is the epitome of what Technical skis are meant to be: race room technology with a softer flex (bendable by mortals) and more open-minded shapes.

The new S/Max Blast is a potent mix of traits, calm in long radius turns despite a slalom-centric sidecut (15m @ 165cm) that prefers a fast-twitch short turn. Its edge grip is first rate and its reflexes are as nimble as cobra’s.  But alas, the Technical market in the U.S. – once the breeding ground for all non-race skis – has shrunk to the point where the limited rack space devoted to this shrinking genre is filled with Power models geared to the expectations of ex-racers. Were the Technical market more robust, there’d be more room for options like the S/Max Blast. Skiers who fondly remember the X-Wing series from Salomon, or going back to skiing’s B.C. – Before Carving – period, the first EXP monocoque, will appreciate the calm quicks of the S/Max Blast.