Like a fairy tale princess, the Salomon QST Lux 92 was born in humble circumstances, endured an awkward adolescence and gradually transformed into a raving beauty. You see, the first edition of the Lux 92 was clearly intended for intermediates, first-time buyers and bargain hunters, as it sold for $499 and didn’t share much of the high-tech construction of its wider siblings, the Lumen and Stella. The latest Lux 92 has top-of-the-line features, including a full-length allotment of C/FX, the carbon and flax amalgam that provides the principal structural support for all the QST’s. Also onboard is a Titanal plate underfoot that improves stability throughout its mid-section.
The QST series is a unisex family, so the Lux 92 received the same bundle of upgrades as the “men’s” 2023 QST 92. Part of the 2023 package is a segment of injected ABS underfoot that boosts edge pressure in this critical zone. The combined effect of all these embellishments is an elevation in performance that makes the new Lux 92 one of the top performers in the genre. It isn’t $499 anymore, nor should it be, as its performance range now runs from the basement to the penthouse.
Fischer has spent the last few seasons behind the R&D curtain re-imagining its entire Ranger collection of off-trail models. The result is a family of hybrids that blend the two branches of the previous Ranger clan, the surfy FR series and the more connected Ti models. All the new Rangers get a dose of .5mm-thick Titanal underfoot married to a fairly loose tip and tail. As befits the family name, they all have a decidedly off-trail bias.
Fans of earlier Rangers will find the new series are more closely related behaviorally to the easy-to-smear FR models of yore than to the metal-laden Ti fraternity. The lighter weight (all poplar) core of the Ranger 90 suggests it might be a good option for living a double life as an in-resort/backcountry, all-purpose partner-in-climb. Its Aeroshape exterior further enables foot steering by reducing resistance when rotating a flat ski.
The Ranger 90 encourages its navigator to assume a centered stance and take advantage of a double-rockered baseline that makes it easier to drift to an edge than ride a continuous rail. There are skiers who swoon over this facility at swiveling, but Realskiers’ scoring criteria puts more emphasis on carving accuracy in every phase of the turn, while the Ranger 90 concentrates its gripping power underfoot. If carving is more your thing, Fischer’s RC One 86 GT is one of the most powerful and accurate trench-diggers in the All-Mountain East genre. The Ranger 90 derives from the opposite side of the carve/drift schism.
Fischer maintains that your skis don’t know your gender, and our ladies’ limited experience with the RC One 82 GT tends to support this contention. Both Clare Martin from Peter Glenn and Lara Hughes Allen from the Mt. Rose Ski School raved about it, despite having very different ski bios. For Clare, who works retail in the southeast, the RC One 82 GT was a huge step up from her norm, liberating her to make turns for the first time that the Level-3 Lara could make in her sleep. Their verbatim reports indicate just how large a slice of the women’s ski population the RC One 82 GT might serve. (Note the humongous size range).
Lara Hughes-Allen wrote, “This ski skied like a very tuned-down GS ski. It held the turn well, even on very firm conditions. This ski felt versatile in a variety of turn shapes and sizes as well as snow conditions. Its stiffness and edging mean that it will run away with you a bit if you’re not balanced and dynamic over the ski.”
The Black Pearl 82 underwent the TrueBlend make-over last season, a fairly complex process given that the model’s sidecut remained a constant. What changed was how high-density beech and low-weight poplar are scattered across the core to create a perfectly balanced flex for every size. Once committed to this level of customization, Blizzard went ahead and synchronized the baseline, sidecut and flex for every length, which in the case of the Black Pearl 82 is a lot (145cm – 173cm).
A key component in the Woman Specific Design of the Pearl 82 is a dash of Titanal underfoot which helps this off-trail design hold its own on hardpack. Combined with the new flex pattern, the Titanal’s effect on edge grip extends beyond its actual dimensions. While this still doesn’t convert the Pearl 82 into a full-on carver – where is the elevated platform or the tight-waisted shape? – it won’t wimp-out on groomers.
