Well, this one was a fan favorite. Who would have thought, an almost $900 skate ski would attract any attention? For skate skiers who are looking for that top-end ski that has little to no competition at the top of the line, the Salomon S/Lab Carbon skate skis are here for you. Built with Salomon’s Nomex Honeycomb wood core and carbon and fiberglass laminates, these skis are as stiff as they are light, and in the skate world, that’s a good thing for sure. You’re looking for instantaneous response, and you’re going to get it with these skis. Just a tad of sidecut, with the central 43 mm waist offering a bit of a turn, and that comes in handy when you’re putting all your effort into your stride. It’s impressive how our testers can tell pretty darn easily that these top-flight skis are what they say they are.
Carol Van Dyke was one of those testers. She skied the 182 in the medium stiffness, and noted that both size and flex were appropriate for her size as well as the conditions skied. 5’s out of 5 were given for stability, weight, and overall impression. It’s nice to see that stability and weight both earned high marks as those two qualities often contrast each other. That’s what you get in the higher-end stuff, though, and that’s a good thing. Carol states that the S/Lab Carbon skate is “silky smooth, like sipping a nice brandy. Masters skate skiers will enjoy this. The speed felt good and it wasn’t as poppy as some other top skate skis. They really excelled in flat, groomed terrain.” Carol also noted that they weren’t terribly versatile, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing since they really shine in the skate format. As a carbon race ski, it’s a fairly singular tool.
CONSTRUCTION
Thin Ply Carbon
PREFERRED TERRAIN
Similar reaction from Jeff Neagle, on the 182, scoring 5’s out of 5 for speed, maneuverability, glide, weight, and overall impression. His low score of 3 out of 5 echoes Carol’s sentiment about the more focused nature of the S/Lab Carbon Skate. Jeff’s comments start off rather enthusiastically: “Yes, yes, yes! I think this is my favorite ski of the test. It might have something to do with the length. The 182 is a little shorter than what I skied from other brands, which made it feel really easy and maneuverable. I think if I end up buying skate skis, I’ll want to get these.” And in terms of the overall performance, Jeff continues: “they’re super-fast and smooth without being twitchy, but still energetic.” Pretty glowing stuff from Jeff, here, noting the strong nature and well-balanced precision of these top-end skate skis.
It’s kind of easy to gravitate to the high-end stuff in the Nordic world. There’s just such a noticeable difference between even the mid-range gear and the race skis, that even our non-racer skiers can tell a big change. This makes it somewhat difficult to really engage with the lower (middle) end of the spectrum, and when you ski something like the Salomon S/Lab Carbon Skate skis, it kind of spoils you for the rest of the skis on the market, save for other companies’ top-flight skis. That’s what kind of makes this test fun, and when we get on an impeccable product like this, it makes you want to improve and do it more, and that’s a good thing.
