What a wonderful and unique ski! The Scott Pure Piste 77 is an outlier in today’s ski world as a flat, narrow, front side ski that actually has some versatility to it. With the mid-70's normally reserved for straight-up front side carvers these days, there aren’t many skis that end up looking like this Piste 77. Most of the skis in this width range come with system bindings and are derived somewhat from a race ski. Scott takes it the other direction. By shrinking down the footprint of the wider skis in the Pure line, this 77 feels like a narrow freeride ski rather than a wide carving ski. This blend gives it a very rare combination of attributes and a surprisingly fun-loving character.

Built with a strong and light wood core consisting of paulownia and beech, this ski also gets a titanal reinforcement underfoot that extends to the tips and tails but doesn’t overpower the ski. In addition, the engineers use carbon stringers that are placed in a 45-degree angle, combining torsional and lateral stiffness to make the ski reactive and strong without being weighed down. Adding to the stiffness of this carbon laminate is the fact that they use it in a curved format to match the curve of the ski. Any time carbon is placed in more of a 3-dimensional manner, it greatly stiffens the material and makes it even more strong and reactive. Since we’re using the same amount of carbon, the ski is still light and agile. In the 177, the ski is pretty light, tipping the scale at 1540 grams per ski. For something that rips this hard, that’s an impressive weight.

Since it’s such a narrow ski, it’s easy to forget that there’s still a lot of freeride influence here, and that’s what makes it so incredibly unique and individualistic. There aren’t many 77 mm underfoot skis that are freeride-based, so that’s a feather for Scott’s cap for sure. We see their Pro-Tip Rocker 230 here, adding that bend to the front of the ski for both flotation and initiation purposes. The back of the ski is pretty darn flat, so that’s where the front side character is really felt. The grip underfoot and the squared-off tail combine to make this ski incredibly snappy and rewarding in a carved turn, but since it’s light and agile, skiers can easily break free from the constraints of the tail in order to put their own influence on the hill. Compared to most skis that are 77 mm underfoot, this one has a longer turn radius, hitting 18-meters in the 177, and causing it to be supremely smooth and stable at higher speeds. Whichever way you choose to use this Pure Piste 77 is up to you, but make no mistake, for such a narrow waist, it’s actually pretty darn good in softer snow.

There’s an interesting range of skiers for this one. We feel that you kind of have to know what you’re looking for in order to end up here, but for those who fall into this pretty specific and unique category, there’s nothing better out there for you. Whether you’re more of an old-school skier who wants a narrow ski without being a race ski, this is a great option. For those who just want to carve it up but don’t want the heft, this is a fantastic choice. It’s great to see ski companies still thinking outside the box, and while they make those more traditional shapes as well, Scott also has stuff like this, and that sets them apart in a very good way.