Vantage 85 W
The Vantage 85 W is so affordable because its construction sticks to the essentials and eliminates the extraneous. A light wood core encased in a slip of fiberglass provides support and energy; a thick vertical sidewall puts direct pressure on the edge, giving the Vantage 85 W the tenacity of pricier rides.
Vantage 100 CTI
“Light and agile for 100mm underfoot,” notes the perspicacious Matt from Footloose. “It carves like it’s narrow, but has a big platform for versatility in soft snow.” One reason this 100 skis like a more petite model is that, despite the obligatory front rocker, it hooks up early as long as the skier is in an aggressive, forward-pressing stance. Several testers noted the need to stay forward in order to get the most of the Vantage 100 CTI’s potential.
Strong Instinct Ti
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Last season Salomon pulled off a bit of sleight of hand when it slipped in a layer of basalt, the most common mineral in the earth’s crust, in lieu of the Titanal (less common) laminate that the first year 8.8 deployed to improve high performance. Our test crew barely batted an eye, because the material that actually rules the energetic response of the X-Drive 8.8 is carbon, the key component in an X-shaped matrix of fibers that mellow out the ride longitudinally and stiffen it torsionally.