2022 Salomon Stance 96

The Stance 96 is the second widest ski in Salomon’s All-Mountain collection. These skis were designed to complement their existing, more freeride-oriented QST skis. The Stance 96 uses a full poplar wood core with two sheets of titanal metal. That alone sets it apart from the QST skis, which only use metal for binding retention. Salomon also uses what they call Metal Twin Frame technology. Strips of metal are removed from the fore and aft sections of the ski and their patented C/FX material is used to fill in that spot. That allows them to reduce swing weight while retaining torsional stiffness, vibration damping, etc. While it’s only 2 mm away from the QST 98 in width, the shape is quite different. There’s much less rocker and early taper in the Stance 96, giving you a longer effective edge and thus increased edge grip. Among skis with 2 sheets of metal, however, the Stance 96 actually has a little more rocker and taper than most, which gives it a slightly more playful feel and easier edge release than some competitors’ skis.

Bob St.Pierre skied the 188 cm length in the Stance 96, which happens to be the longest length you can buy. Bob saw a lot of 4 out of 5 scores from Bob. Only flotation and forgiveness dropped to 3 out of 5. On the other hand, stability earned a full 5 out of 5 mark. “Just one of those skis that’s instantly fun and fast. Put it on edge and just keep pushing. They have a high speed limit and love to cruise. Quick, too. I was pretty impressed with the swivel-ability of these skis in tight terrain. Love the length, felt perfect for me.” Bob’s assessment of the Stance 96 is consistent with our feedback from other testers as well as with how we think of the rest of the Stance line. Among skis with 2 sheets of metal, they are some of the most maneuverable skis, which increases overall versatility. They’re not as quick as Salomon’s QST line, but the smooth rocker and taper lines give it a less-catchy feel than many skis in the aggressive all-mountain category.

Matt McAlary tested the 182 cm length and had a similar reaction to Bob, commenting on the impressive blend of performance characteristics in the Stance 96. His highest scores for the Stance 96 were for stability and torsional stiffness/edge grip, which are criteria we expect to do well for a ski with 2 sheets of metal. “The stance 96 seemed to provide a good balance of vibration dampening and liveliness. By this I mean that they are stable and damp, but provide a level of energy, quickness, and snap that I was not expecting. Once you get moving, they carve really well. I wouldn’t consider them to be as intuitive as some other skis in the sense that you do need to put a fair amount of effort into the skis to get them to properly engage. Where I really enjoyed this ski was on softer groomers- groomers that might have a bit of soft snow on top, or groomers that were tilled pretty deep. It was nice to be able to create high edge angles in the softer conditions without the ski getting bogged down. With that said, I didn’t feel as though the ski would handle more than a few inches of snow very well. This ski is designed for advanced to expert skiers that want a stable ski that can handle a bit more than just a firm groomer.” We think that’s a very fair assessment from Matt. The Stance 96 isn’t necessarily intended to be used as a powder ski, so having a limitation of more than a few inches seems fine with us. We also feel confident that not everyone would find the same limitation. A lot of skiers don’t mind being on narrower skis in powder, and as Bob pointed out, the swivel-factor is still relatively high.

As is true with the entire Stance 96 line, we’re most impressed with the blend of power and maneuverability in these skis. It’s really what sets them apart from most skis in this category. A lot of skis with this much metal have more extended sidecut and longer camber lines, which makes them feel more pigeon-holes to groomer use. The Stance 96 is still powerful and holds an edge well, but allows for a little more variety in your terrain choices.