2024 Salomon Stance 102

When Salomon launched the first edition of the Stance series in the 20/21 season, they were well aware that they were entering all-mountain categories already brimming with options. Most of the established image leaders in the pivotal All-Mountain West genre were Power models loaded stem to stern with dual Titanal laminates. To create some space for Stance in this crowd, Salomon had to both match what the category leaders were doing yet somehow be different from them. The solution was to replace swatches of Ti in the top sheet with its proprietary C/FX fibers, so the Stances would feel a bit less ponderous than the competition. The changes instituted in the new Stance series took this effort at differentiation a step further, slightly disengaging the Ti top layer from the core, creating the sensation of a softer-flexing ski that’s still torsionally rigid enough to bite into boilerplate. Sally also lightened up the core by adding Karuba to what had been an all-poplar affair.  The net effect is a high octane ski that is simplicity itself to steer. As incarnated in the Stance 102, the new changes transformed what had been a back-of-the-pack wannabe into one of the very best Finesse skis in the over-served Big Mountain market. Its nickname should be Crud Lite, for it excels in soft snow, where it maintains a mellow, fall-line orientation through thick and thin. Among the traits that substantially boosted the Stance 102 in the Finesse rankings is its unusual ability to feel narrower than it measures at the waist. At least part of this sensation is due to a tail that is, in fact, narrower than the norm in the Big Mountain genre, so the ski has a tendency to gently release the turn after it crosses the fall line. The perception of being on a more tapered platform is accentuated by smooth, even flex that bows under modest pressure. Jim Schaffner is an innately powerful technical skier with a penchant for speed. He found the Stance 102 to be “balanced and dreamy for my style and today’s packed powder conditions.  Versatile and playful fun.  Loved drifting into the soft stuff on the sides of the trail.”  While it isn’t perturbed by hardpack, there’s no question that it’s in its bliss in soft snow.  While some Big Mountain skis feel like battering rams that bludgeon crud into submission, the Stance 102’s svelte shape slices through tracked-up snow like a stiletto.