Back in the early 2000’s, when I was ski testing for SKI magazine, it seemed to me that every Stöckli I essayed cut a beeline for the base lodge, like a high-strung Super G that wanted to win every run. To this day, most Stöcklis still have a higher speed ceiling than normal, but they no longer all ski the same. Even within the Stormrider family, where all models are meant to mind their manners in problematic off-trail conditions, their personality differences are as sharply defined as their commonalities. In other words, the Stormrider 95 and Stormrider 88 don’t ski like twins with different waistlines; each is its own animal, despite all their shared DNA.
In a head-to-head comparison with the Stormrider 95, the Stormrider 88 comes off as the lesser ski, literally, in trait after trait. In a drift, it has less surface area, so it can be tripped up by slop piles the 95 planes over. On a high edge, it has less torsional rigidity (due to its proportionately narrower Ti laminates), so it’s missing a smidgeon of grip on hard snow. When fully loaded and laid over – a position many Stöcklis call home – it’s not quite as energetic off the edge. The SR 95 even feels a tad quicker in short, sharply edged arcs, where you’d think the SR 88 would prevail. And the SR 95 seems as easy to steer from a centered stance as it does when the pilot is loading the tip, a position the SR 88 seems to prefer.
If this sounds like the Stormrider 88 is a different ski than its similarly built brother, that’s because it is. If it doesn’t have quite the power and precision of its big bro, it’s not because it’s a bundle of shortcomings, but because the 88 is a different flavor. Its focus is smoothness all the way around its full-bellied arc. Its edge grip is practically without peer, yet it’s lighter weight – by far – than any of the other Power Picks in the All-Mountain East category. The flexibility of its forebody allows it slink through effed-up mogul troughs, yet its tip never flaps on hardpack.
Probably the easiest and most accessible of our Power Picks for the other-than-expert, the Stormrider 88 still has plenty of ceiling for those who can’t get much better.
