Talk about one of your all-time overlooked skis. The 2024 Salomon Stance 84 just sits right below the radar for way too many skiers. As a mid-80's underfoot ski with a pretty sophisticated build, the Stance 84 has a whole lot to offer a huge range of skiers. If we’re being honest with ourselves, most of us spend most of our time on groomed terrain. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it gets even better when you have the right skis on your feet. All to often we see skiers with skis that are either way too wide or way too heavy to thoroughly enjoy a day on-piste. While true front side skiers will claim this is too wide, and devout all-mountain skiers will say it’s too narrow, most skiers will fall right in the middle. Combining the shape with a sturdy build and a fun-loving profile, this 2024 Salomon Stance 84 is poised and ready to take over the intermediate to advanced all-mountain range. With a fresh new look for 2024, the Stance 84 should attract a new set of skiers who will absolutely love the poise and versatility of this ski.

While a lot of skiers make the mistake of thinking this is just an intermediate ski with moderate intentions, it’s really got a lot more under the hood. We start with a full poplar wood core for power and energy and add a single titanal sheet to the underfoot zone. While it doesn’t extend to the tips and tails, it does a fair amount of the heavy lifting when it comes to edge grip and stability. The energy and pop of the ski is mainly derived from the use of carbon stringers in the forebody of the ski as well as the tail. These longitudinal stringers stiffen the flex and deliver an excellent amount of pop and snap to the ski. The blend of poplar and carbon in this ski makes for a very reactive and precise feel at a light weight. This balances with the sturdier metal underfoot to create a lively and damp feel from tip to tail. In the 177 cm length, this ski is pretty light at 1640 grams per ski, making a maneuverable ski feel like it’s got some horsepower available at the same time. 

From a footprint perspective, this 2024 Stance 84 shares the same mold and dimensions as the previous ski, and that’s great news for skiers who have always enjoyed the easy-turning nature of the 84. Bookending the waist is a 123 mm tip and a 106 mm tail generating a 16-meter radius in the 177 cm length. The Salomon designers are claiming a 12% tail rocker and a 15% tip rocker profile to go along with underfoot camber. This makes for more of an all-mountain feel for sure and it helps skiers keep their edges engaged for longer periods of time to ensure smoothness throughout the carve. This also creates a nice feeling of energy underfoot, as the camber adds built-in pop to the whole mix. Overall, the shape and profile of this ski fit squarely into the middle of the all-mountain category.

While a bit too high-end for a beginner, it’s not out of the realm for a first time ski buyer looking for something that they can progress with. It’s pretty much exactly that ski. We get so many questions about skis that fit for improving skiers but also won’t be too demanding that they hinder advancement. Over the past few seasons, this ski has found itself at the top of our list for that exact application. At the same time, the ceiling of the ski is high enough that it’ll satisfy the needs and wants for more aggressive and advanced skiers for sure. We’ve seen and experienced some very high-level skiing on the Stance 84, and it remains one of our top recommended skis for pure all-mountain skiing for a variety of skier types.