Review: Salomon Stance 96

Model year: 2022-2023
Sidecut: 132-96-114
Size: 182
Radius: 20 m
Technology: wood core, full sidewall, metal twin frame, tip rocker, a bot of tail rocker, Carbon/Flax

About this ski

This is the frontside all-mountain series by Salomon. With ski widths of 84, 90, 96 and 102 this covers the entire range between their hard snow Force skis (the Force Bold being the same width as the narrowest Stance) and their freeride QST-line. Where they do overlap in width range with those other lines, they do actually differ quite a bit in performance. And with that, they rather nicely complement the entire Salomon Range.

The rocker profile in combination with the metal (the heart of which has been switched out by the much lighter Carbon and Flax weave) looks like the perfect all-mountain blend. On paper that is. On snow, these Stance 96 are strong, and steady, but not very poppy or playful. That is not a bad thing, just something you ought to know.

Buster

For a ski of 96 mm underfoot, the edge grip is really good. It’s up there with the famous strong carvers such as the Blizzard Bonafide 97 and Nordica Enforcer 94. The Stance 96 is a touch more forgiving than both of its competitors, though, a bit easier to bend. It still is a bust-trough-everything type of ski though (as opposed to some lighter go-over-everything skis that some other brands offer).

It skis with confidence in just about all snow conditions you might find on the front side of the mountain. For deep snow (20 cm or more, I would say) it doesn’t have the float and it has a bit too much weight to stay on top of the snow. It’ll bust through it, but may catch a shark or two in the process. The other thing it doesn’t do very well is ski high frequency, snappy turns. Sure, it has a 20 m radius and is 96 mm underfoot, so that shouldn’t be a surprise. Some other skis in this width category do have that ability. But those are skis that skew to the playful side of the spectrum. Fischer Ranger 96 or Black Crows Camox, for example.

In conclusion

The Stance 96 is a steady, quite sturdy all-mountain ski for the harder end of snow conditions. It’s not really playful or floaty – not even for its width – but it makes up for that in edge hold and high-speed carving ability.

Characteristics

Playful		Stable
Forgiving		Punishing
Lively		Damp
Skidding		Carving
Low speed		High speed
Short turn		Long turn
Soft snow		Hard snow