QST 106
If Salomon’s brand identity over the past forty years could be summarized in a single word, it would be “innovation.” The driver behind its history of successful new product introductions is a corporate culture grounded in extensive Research and Development (R&D). Salomon’s Annecy Design Center continues to launch breakthrough products capable of disrupting a market, such as last season’s Backcountry/Alpine Shift binding.
The same relentless devotion to R&D that made the Shift possible has spurred Salomon to re-design the QST 106 for the second season in a row. The list of the latest changes may sound like a handful of minor alterations, but together they turbo-boosted the QST 106’s Power score and its 20/20 Finesse score is even higher.
I confess I’ve been maintaining a soft-snow-days only liaison with a QST 106 since we first met, so my bias in its favor is engrained. I’m now seeing a 181cm 106, which strikes me as the perfect blend of flotation for soft snow and grip on hard snow. Instead of dreading the latter, I find the new QST 106 to be so natural and imbued with fluid fortitude that I stop noticing its width and simply ski. Even as the rpm’s ascend it stays the course, laying down long turns as if to the manner born.
Vantage 97 C W
[Neither the Vantage 97 C W nor its scores have changed since this review was posted last season.]
For its 2019 Vantage collection of all-mountain skis, Atomic took a different approach to executing the ideals of the Lighter Is Better movement in product design. Instead of looking for ways to remove material from existing archetypes, Atomic began with the most elemental design imaginable and added only what’s required to turn a shape into a ski.
As you’d expect from a ski built to be as minimalist as possible, in the hand the Vantage 97 C W feels light enough to fly away, but it’s so stable on snow one tester even found it “stiff-ish.” It’s certainly a lot more ski than is normally available at a street price of $499. Kelli Gleason of Boot Doctors in Telluride, pegs the 2019 Vantage 97 C W as “more powerful than its predecessor, this ski is a charger and can be sized down to accommodate a more timid skier.” An extraordinary value for the accomplished skier, it’s also the perfect escort for the off-trail debutante who needs a forgiving partner to show her the ropes.