The 2016 version of the Stormrider 107 is just new enough to qualify for this modifier, but not too new. A few strips of carbon and polyamide at tip and tail probably do contribute to dampening, weight reduction and torsional reinforcement, but the best news is this feature doesn’t detract from what makes the Stormrider 107 a perennial favorite of our test crew.
Stöckli figured out a while ago that they couldn’t make fat powder skis using the same formula as their race skis or they would sink instead of float. Since making a ski without wood and metal causes Stöckli designers to break out in hives, they used balsa and other light woods in the core, linen for a dampening agent and decorated their Titanal top sheet to avoid the weight of an extra layer.
The result is a ski that inspired two words I thought I might never read on a Stöckli test card: “Exceptionally easy.” One shouldn’t read into this that the Stormrider 107 is particularly interested in dawdling; after all, it’s still a Stöckli. But it rolls to an edge more readily than many other skis of this ilk and once on edge you can’t blow the Stöckli Stormrider 107 off line with a grenade.
© 2015 JACKSON HOGEN INC