Salomon QST 106 Ski

I'm 5' 7", 150 lbs, on the 174 cm. Ski the QST 106 one day in the east on a mix of packed powder on piste and heavy powder in the trees, then 4 days of freshies in UT.

Powder: noticeably light on uphill traverse, great float and pivot in the pow, surfy and fun.
Groomers: Surprisingly quick edge to edge, easy to adjust turn length, but definitely chatter at very high speeds
Crud: More work than I expected when the snow got chopped up. As a lighter skier I felt like I had to really bear down and absorb the terrain with my knees to keep from getting thrown around.
Steeps: I'm not an expert skier so struggled with edging a bit in steep chutes, but that's not what these skis are designed for.

Bottom line: Great powder ski that is fun in the deep, but that "surfy" feel means they are not as damp in the crud. For a comparison, I loved the Mantra in the crud, because it can plow through anything without throwing me around, but it tends to plow through the powder too.

One of my favorite skis out there! I had the chance to demo these skis a few time in very different snow conditions. The rocker on the tip and tail made for a playful feel with easy turns, while they still held an edge on the groomers and carves well for a 106 underfoot. Love how light (even with demo bindings) and stable the skis felt in all conditions. I was surprised on how well they cruised through crud and on piste, felt better than my much heavier K2’s. Overall highly recommend, will be my next ski purchase.

I'm 5'11" and 175lbs and tested out the 181cm at the factory mount with Salomon's tech bindings (not currently available in the US yet). I skied at Solitude resort with a mixture of creamy pow to heavier crud down on lower elevation.

Pros:
- It may have been due to that these were mounted with Salomon's lightweight tech bindings, but these are noticeably light. I wouldn't have any hesitation spending all day touring on them.
- The 106 underfoot makes them ideal for a variety of conditions, which was perfect as the day tested on them had the whole shabang of snow types.
- On soft snow, these are a blast. They make fun arc'ing turns and seem to float well on a few inches of snow. I would imagine they still rip on more snowfall.

Cons:
- Likely due to how light these are, they get bounced around on crud. Definitely didn't feel as comfortable charging through chewed up snow. Would be interesting to see how they ski with inbound bindings on crud, especially heavier snow. PNW skiing could be interesting on these if paired with a lightweight binding.

Overall:
I would love to spend some more days on these. They seem like an ideal Wasatch ski that could handle both inbound and backcountry skiing. I would love to spend some time on them with a frame style binding to see how they hold up. They're super lightweight and ski well, but more aggressive skiers may feel they bounce around in the crud and heavier snow a bit more than what is liked. If you have any questions about the skis or what you should mount them up with, feel free to give a shout at my direct line 801.204.4547 or email cojohnson@backcountry.com.

Was able to demo this last year.... but conditions only let me ski hardpack. I have no doubt that these are awesome in soft snow and powder, but I was still impressed with their on-piste performance.

This is definitely a rockered freeride ski, but still had good stability on groomers and was fun to arc long turns with. Stable and reliable, I had no qualms at laying them over at speed, however they weren't the most stable when things get really firm/hard.

Can't say firsthand how they'd be in soft snow, but based on how they felt I'm sure they'll be awesome.

Give me a shout if you want to talk more about skis; would love to help put you in your favorite ski setup.

Ben