2022 Salomon Stance 90

2022 will mark the second season for the Salomon Stance collection and the Stance 90 is one of the original skis in what’s now a 5-ski collection. While their QST skis lean more towards soft snow conditions and a freeride mentality, the Stance skis are built for firmer conditions and a more powerful, precise feel. The Stance 90 uses a full poplar wood core with Double Ti laminates. Salomon utilizes what they call Metal Twin Frame, where long rectangular sections of metal are removed from the fore and aft sections of the ski. In those spots, they integrate their patented C/FX material instead of metal. This allows Salomon to reduce the overall weight of the ski (1775 g for the 176 cm length), while retaining good torsional stiffness and a strong overall feel. The Stance 90 uses moderate rocker lines. Salomon calls it All-Terrain rocker, but we see varying amounts of splay among skis that have that title. The 90 has moderate tip and tail rocker with matching subtle early taper. The ski is, however, predominantly camber.

Ryan Daniel has a strong racing background and is a great skier to put a ski like the Stance 90 to the test. Ryan skied the 182 cm length, which he thought was perfect for his size. Extremely impressive scores from Ryan, including 5 out of 5 for stability, torsional stiffness/edge grip, and overall impression. Only flotation dropped below 4 out of 5 to just a 3, but with plenty of wider skis in Salomon’s line, float isn’t a big concern for the Stance 90. “I was very impressed with this ski!! A ski I would put in the quiver. No, this ski was not amazingly playful. No, it was not super versatile. It is a Brahma killer. It wants to rail GS turns!! Blasted and crushed, but you could still wash tails out and check speed when needed. This was the first Salomon I had skid and was VERY impressed!!” If Ryan thinks it carves well, that’s saying a lot. The guy can really bend a ski and watching him lay arcs on the Stance 90 was very entertaining. Josh Wolfgang went for the 188 cm length and has a similar reaction to Ryan. “A good all mountain carver. The shovel is beefy enough to plow through moguls. Can hold an edge and is wide enough underfoot to prevent you from booting out.” Sometimes having that little bit of extra width underfoot can be hugely beneficial when you want to achieve high edge angles in softer snow. Narrower carving skis can catch and get bogged down, but the Stance 90 just rips through it all.

Jeff Siegel also skied the 188 cm length, which he thought felt a little long for him. 182 may have been the better choice for Jeff. Regardless, he had a good time on it, and picked up on a theory we’ve had on these skis for a while. Among skis with 2 sheets of metal, the Stance skis feel like they have more freeride influence than most. “I really like this ski. It’s a great charging freeride/all-mountain ski. Metal makes it feel and carve powerfully, but I actually like it more when you get the ski flat and whip it around. It’s got a nice smooth pop to it that lets you bounce from turn to turn. It’s stiff while still feeling supple and powerful, yet easy to steer around. There are a few great skis in this category that are amazing on-piste and a little more challenging off-piste. The Stance 90 is the reverse. I feel that this ski is the one that really excels off the trail. If you’re looking for that type of ski but want something that’s a little more playful in the moguls, woods and trees, I think this is an absolutely fantastic ski.” Skiers who want 2 sheets of metal generally don’t have a ton of options when it comes to a truly versatile all-mountain ski, but the Stance 90 fills that niche nicely. The only score to drop below 4 out of 5 for Jeff was forgiveness. Overall impression bumped up to 5 out of 5, with all other criteria sitting pretty at 4. Brian Cooke also went for the 188 cm length, and he specifically noted that’s exactly what he wanted for length. “Awesome! This ski was snappy and stable and nimble all at the same time. In the wide open, it was super stable at speed and handled chop with ease. It required a fair amount of work in bumps but was quick edge to edge and had enough forgiveness in the tips to make it easy. I would buy this ski as an east coast daily driver.” Tons of 5 out of 5 mark from Brian, including stability, quickness/maneuverability, torsional stiffness/edge grip, versatility, and overall impression.

All in all, the Stance 90 is a valuable ski to have on the market. It approaches the 2-sheets-of-metal crowd with its own personality and a little bit more playfulness, which is really nice to have. It’s also a great ski to complement a wider Salomon like a QST 98 or 106. A Stance and a QST makes a nice little 2-ski quiver regardless of which widths you choose. You get superb firm snow performance from the Stance, all-mountain versatility, then top-notch soft snow performance from your QST. Good job Salomon!