The big news from Salomon at this year’s Outdoor Retailer Winter Market is the new line of skis. The Quest series will be launched this fall and will compliment the Rocker 2 line. We got to test some of them out at Alta earlier this year and will have proper reviews soon, but for now, we got an up close and personal look at them on the Salt Palace floor.
The granddaddy of the Quest line is the Quest 115. Salomon calls it a powerful powder ski (does that mean it’s powderful?) that has serious all-mountain capability. Despite its wide, powder-friendly girth, the ski is easy to turn and play on in normal conditions as well thanks to camber underfoot and Salomon’s utility rocker. Overall, they’re supposed to be stable, strong, and able to kill it in the powder as well as long after it’s gone. The skis are constructed with a full wood core, as well as a hook-free taper, edge-free extremities, and honeycomb tips for reduced swing weight.
The Quest line features other skis of varying widths including the Quest 105, Quest 98 and Quest 92.
Salomon also has a new touring-capable boot called the Quest Max BC 120. The company says it’s a strong and light boot that can both hike and ride. It features a stiff 120 flex for high performance on the downhill, while being light enough to tour on the ascent. It has what they call TwinFrame technology, and Oversized Pivot, Hike and Ride technology, Custom Shell 360, and Contagrip interchangeable soles. The lower shell is made of Pebax, and come with a thermomoldable liner made from race foam for a 100% customizable fit.
The boots also feature Salomon’s new WTR (Walk to Ride) technology, an industry first standard for compatibility between certain boot soles and bindings. Touring boots have rockered, rubber soles, but those chunky bottoms don’t fit well in alpine-style backcounty bindings. WTR creates a new norm for the compatibility between touring boots and bindings within existing ISO Standards. You’ll also find WTR on Salomon’s new STH 2 WTR Binding and Guardian WTR 16 and 13 touring bindings.
All of these new ski products will be available Fall of 2013.