Now that the FX96 Ti has returned to something closer to its original self, its performance ceiling has doubled. Sawyer Alford from Bobo’s fell so hard for the FX96 Ti that he beseeched Kästle for sponsorship. His notes on the FX96 Ti reveal the ardor of a young man in love. “This ski is the perfect directional 95-100mm underfoot ski. It’s damp yet stiff enough that any energy you put into the ski will be given right back, which makes it a more fun and harder charging ski than the Stöckli in this category. This ski undoubtedly is king of its class and is easier to ski than, say, a Mantra M6. I’m impressed and obsessed with this ski,” he breathlessly concludes.
Sawyer is perhaps modestly overstating the case, but there’s little doubt that within the new FX family, the FX96 Ti is the star product. Not surprisingly, it’s quicker on and off the edge than the plumper FX106 Ti, but what is eyebrow-raising is it feels more tenacious on edge and responsive off it than its narrower sibling, the FX86 Ti. It still doesn’t ski like, say, the MX98, which feels more connected and imperturbable than the FX96 Ti, because its balance between on-piste and off-piste attributes has been tilted in favor of off-trail virtues. A peek at its test results confirms its off-piste predilections, as its score for Drift out-points its edging accuracy in every phase of the turn.
A skier like Sawyer may tear directly downhill on the FX96 Ti to test its limits, but it doesn’t need to be driven in overdrive to be appreciated. It performs perfectly predictably at medium speeds when fed a steady diet of medium-radius turns. Because its lower camber line makes it easier to bow and its well-rockered baseline is simplicity to steer, we confer upon the FX96 Ti a Silver Skier Selection.
Small-batch producers like Liberty have a tough row to hoe. Aside from zero name recognition, they have to either work with an established factory or try to start their own facility, both of which have their disadvantages. Their other two biggest problems are how to differentiate themselves from the pack and thereby generate a sense of mission when it’s highly unlikely they’ll have unique materials or processes, and how to make a consistent product when limited demand dictates they work in short production runs.
Liberty broke from the pack with Vertical Metal Technology (VMT), just at the same time that industry powerhouses Rossignol and Blizzard introduced vertical struts in some of their top race-class models. Stunningly, the Liberty version with two aluminum struts seemed to deliver the glued-to-the-snow sensation this design is meant to deliver at a level at or above the big boys. Very impressive.
As is often the case with new technologies, Liberty has spent the last couple of years trying to find the best formula for VMT’s deployment, settling two seasons ago on a three-struct configuration in its all-mountain evolv series. The vertical strips of alu are encased in bamboo stringers within a bamboo and poplar core that’s reinforced with carbon and glass. It’s a very rich and sophisticated construction that rises well above the norm among indie brands.
As executed in the evolv 100, VMT accentuates its carving traits, tipping its on-tail/off-trail ratio towards rocking groomers over ripping up crud. In a category in which most models can’t wait to smear, the evolv 100 prefers to carve, slicing long arcs (19m@179cm) that don’t deviate far from the fall line. To tighten your turns, apply a higher edge angle.
Over the past five seasons, our experiences with Liberty have illuminated a point we tend to brush over, namely the vital importance of base prep. All brands, big and small, struggle with ex-factory finish. To loosen up the evolv 100’s tight grip, consider using a grind like a thumbprint or chevron that will improve its willingness to drift and move laterally, a must in tight quarters off-trail.
In the 2018/19 season, Atomic dove into the deep end of the Lighter is Better pool, emerging with Pro Lite, a skeletal construction that sought to trim mass using all the means at the R&D department’s disposal.
Atomic’s Maverick and Maven (for women) series have bid aloha to Pro Lite, returning to a classic, elementary construction that Atomic could build in its sleep: an all-poplar core encased in top and bottom sheets of fiberglass and either Titanal (.4mm) or carbon, depending on the model. The emphasis on lightweight hasn’t been jettisoned – 1800g for a 180 is relatively light in this genre – but it has taken a back seat to performance fundamentals.
The Maverick 100 Ti’s special sauce is the combined effect of its double-rockered baseline (25/60/15), tapered tip and unique HRZN Tech Tip that’s rockered on both axes. Atomic calls this combo the ski’s Flow Profile, a good term for how a ski meets the snow. In the case of the Maverick 100 Ti, the front rocker reveals a decided preference for off-trail skiing, sacrificing early connection at the top of the turn on firm snow for a better buffer when barging through cut-up crud.
The 100 Ti is the best of the Mavericks at drifting, able to smudge over loose, sloppy snow whether meeting it head-on, sideways or somewhere in between. It also has a bit more metal than its bros by dint of its added surface area, so it surprisingly holds a better edge on sheer surfaces than its skinnier siblings.
Just last season, Head invigorated its Kore series by making a handful of product changes that palpably improved every Kore model’s performance. You’d think the Austrian brand would rest on its considerable laurels, but it elected to add a urethane topcoat – like frosting on the proverbial cake – to help protect the top and sides from nicks and scratches. Lo, and behold, the addition of an end-to-end dampening layer gave the new Kores a little extra cush to their ski/snow connection, which showed up in the guise of slightly improved scores for both Finesse and Power properties.
Underneath the new urethane topsheet the 2023 Kore 99 is the same ski, with the same behavior profile, that knocked our collective socks last year. The Kore 99, then and now, epitomizes what makes Head’s unique Kore construction so well adapted to irregular, off-trail conditions without compromising its capacity for holding on hard snow. The All-Mountain West category resides on the boundary line between hard-snow carvers and Big Mountain drifters. The Kore 99 is definitely from the latter camp of looser skis, but its thoughtful design never forgets that is has to meet a certain hard snow performance standard or Head won’t put its name on it.
One of the measures of a great ski is how it handles conditions for which it was not designed. The Kore 99 is built through-and-through to be an off-trail, loose-snow ski, yet it acquits itself on hardpack as if it were home sweet home. Loosen up the surface even a little bit and the Kore 99 comes alive.
Unlike some of its burlier bros in the All-Mountain West genre, the Kore 99 feels quick to the edge and reactive off it. “It didn’t ski like a short (180cm), fat ski,” writes Bobo’s Theron Lee. “It was very nimble yet very stable at speed and able to follow terrain quite well. The biggest surprise was the width: it did not feel like a 99mm width, it felt much narrower.”
For making high performance, all-terrain skiing accessible with less exertion, we again award the Kore 99 a Silver Skier Selection.
Prior to last season, Fischer had subdivided its Ranger family of off-trail models into two distinct clans, indicated by their suffixes: Ti, for those with metal in the mix, and FR, for those without. Like the Ti’s of yesteryear, there’s metal in the latest hybrid Rangers, just not as much as before. The metal is confined to the area underfoot, and while there are some changes in how the metal part is configured across the line, none possess enough Titanal to suppress the loose extremities that appealed to FR fans. Because the metal is mostly underfoot, the tip and tail feel lighter, easier to pivot sideways and generally more genial than a ski with tip-to-tail Ti laminates.
As is often the case, the metal plate in the middle extends its influence beyond its boundaries, so the Ranger 96 feels secure all along the tail. It’s interesting to note that despite being put on a Ti diet, the new Ranger 96 earned exactly the same score for power properties as the Ranger 99 Ti it replaces in the line, while its Finesse score went up. On balance, the 2024 hybrid Ranger behaves more like the FR side of its pedigree, albeit with a stouter tail that holds up under the sustained pressure of a long-radius turn.
Given that its double-rockered baseline is biased towards soft snow that gives the tip and tail something to push against, the Ranger 96 is more at home off-trail than on. Skiers who possess a more upright, centered stance may share the reaction of Peter Glenn’s Mark Rafferty, who pondered the question, “How can a ski be both playful and hard charging? Magic, I guess. But the Ranger 96 has all the carve that the Ranger series has been great at for years with an easy-going feel.”
