All mountain skis
Product 2024
Woman, Man
We skied on this Stance 96 last season, and we rediscover the sensations we had on snow.
We discover a ski with dark colors, a look that aims to be classy, not very fun but ultimately, an elaborate design. It gives an overall impression of a well-finished ski, with a double Titanal laminate, which before the tests, led us to expect a “giant” type behavior.
This Salomon Stance 96 displays, as its name indicates, 96 millimeters underfoot. We get a slightly more laborious and less lively edge-to-edge transition compared to narrower widths (like the Stance 96). The Stance is intended for on-piste use but with its width, it begins to offer a good surface for skiing in deep snow.
Salomon advertises it more in an all-mountain category (unless it’s freeride?), with performance on piste, and also the ability to venture out of marked and groomed areas.
On snow, this ski, given its structure and length, is quite heavy. There’s a lot of inertia, so the desire to play with the terrain, to jump, dissipates. The desire is mainly to lay it down, elongate the curve, and ski powerfully.
The Salomon Stance 96 holds its line, but don’t expect it to be highly responsive, to play with terrain irregularities, or to try to avoid obstacles that appear instantly. You must have anticipated them and also possess the physical ability to avoid and manage them.
The absorption is decent, but it’s not a ski that skis well at slow speeds. As we’ve understood, it’s not a companion for forest skiing on a mountain biking trail that we’ve stumbled upon. Or else, you need to have strong legs, be fit, have a weight or power that matches the ski length. In this type of terrain, maneuverability, playfulness, are demanded, characteristics that this ski lacks.
But as soon as we have a clearer line, with more consistent snow, then it’s a pleasure. The Salomon Stance 96 just wants to accelerate. The absorption evolves with the speed of skiing.
If you’re not going very fast on rough terrain, you’ll suffer. As soon as you ski faster, apply pressure, and keep an eye on it constantly, then it starts to get more interesting.
With its 96-millimeter underfoot width, you can tackle deep powder. The tip does the job well, it absorbs well, the Stance 96 floats well, although some skis do better than that. But in its program, it’s not asked to have an excessive rocker and an extremely wide tip. Satisfactory in deep snow, it must be in line with the program, its level, its power, its size, and ski length.
On the piste, we find the same characteristics, it’s a bomb on the edge. If you put it on an edge, you have to clear the way in front because if another skier comes out of a bump: you’ll slice through them. You’re set in a radius, and it’s very hard to get out of it.
The Salomon Stance 96 is very hard to make skid, we struggled a lot. On the contrary, it just wants to accelerate, to open up, and the faster you go, the more stable it feels. But the corollary is that initiating a skid, completing the turn, requires a lot of energy.
Its 20-meter radius is a bit long, it requires physical effort especially since it doesn’t immediately enter the curve. The tip is a bit slow. You have to ski it underfoot, at the back: it’s a way to get efficiency and acceleration. The Salomon Stance 96 is aimed at powerful skiers, fast skiers who love speed, who have the physical ability to handle it all day.
A pleasant ski in deep snow. It works very well on the piste even though the edge-to-edge transition is slow. It’s not a playful ski but it remains efficient in most aspects of its program. For powerful skiers.
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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