For our second women’s ski comparison, we’re focusing on skis surrounding 100 mm underfoot. That said, there’s quite a bit of variety in this list. The narrowest skis are in the 94-95 mm range and the widest get up to around 102 mm underfoot. In our 2020 Ski Test results, some of these skis are in the All-Mountain section, while others are designated Freeride. Depending on where you live and the snow conditions you typically ski, however, each ski could play a different roll for different skiers. Remember, ski performance is subjective.

As always, let us know if you have any questions about any ski you see here or any that you don’t. You can leave a comment here on this article, on the YouTube video, email us, or just pick up the phone and call us. You’re always going to get a skier on the other end. You can also find a lot more feedback on each ski in our 2020 Ski Test.

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Overview:

The Secret 102 is a great way to start this comparison as it’s easily one of the strongest and most powerful skis we’re going to talk about. The technology we saw in the Secret 92 for 2019 has now expanded into both the Kenja 88 and this Secret 102. It uses Volkl’s Titanal Frame construction which utilizes a full sheet of metal along the base and partial, horseshoe-shaped sheets along the top. You won’t find much rocker or early taper in the Secret 102. This construction combined with the extended sidecut and lack of significant rocker gives it tremendous edge grip, high levels of stability, and a powerful feel. Of course, the other side the coin is that it’s a fairly demanding ski that requires an aggressive advanced or expert level skier. Timid skiers and those closer to the intermediate level will likely feel overwhelmed by it, as not much in the women’s ski world can match this level of precision, power, and stability at speed.

Who it's For:

Aggressive skiers who like to ski fast and arc turns through choppy snow conditions and anything else that happens to be in front of them.

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Overview:

The QST Lumen 99 from Salomon is a very versatile ski. Salomon uses a smooth rockered and early tapered shape in the QST 99. There is a slightly longer effective edge for 2020, but it’s a similar shape as we’ve seen in the past. Construction has been tweaked as well, with cork added to the tips for more vibration damping. Arguably one of the most well-rounded skis in this comparison, the QST Lumen 99 feels smooth and maneuverable in soft snow and has a freeride-influenced feel overall. The 2020 version is even better than before on firmer snow. It’s not quite as powerful or as stiff as the Secret 102, but it’s no slouch in terms of edge grip and stability. You really can take it anywhere on the mountain and it won’t feel out of place. It’s not the lightest ski in the world, but it doesn’t feel tremendously heavy on your feet. It could be a good contender for a Salomon Shift binding for sure.

Who it's For:

Skiers who go everywhere on the mountain, generally ski with a relatively playful style, but don’t want to sacrifice stability at speed.

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Overview:

The Rossignol Sky 7 HD W has received a graphics update for 2020, but aside from that stays the same. That’s certainly not a bad thing, as this ski has carved a niche for itself since its introduction a few years ago. Rossignol’s shaping concept for the Sky 7 HD uses high rise camber underfoot paired with significant rocker in both the tips and tails. There’s also a lot of early taper too. The ski is noticeably lightweight with its paulownia wood and Carbon Alloy Matrix construction. This shape and construction results in a highly maneuverable ski. This is one of the quickest, most agile skis we’re going to talk about in this comparison. It wiggles through the tight Vermont trees we have here in Stowe with ease. On the other hand, it doesn’t have tremendous stability at speed or edge grip on firm snow, but that’s far from its focus. The Sky 7 HD W loves soft snow conditions and loves tight terrain.

Who it's For:

Skiers who are always seeking out soft snow, especially if it involves ducking into the trees to find a hidden powder stash, but aren’t too concerned about having a powerful ski for the groomers.

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Overview:

The Nordica Santa Ana 100 is another well-rounded ski. Like the Salomon QST Lumen 99, it’s hard to take it anywhere where it feels particularly out of place. Nordica uses fairly long rocker in the tip with much less in the tail. There’s less-pronounced taper compared to the Sky 7 or even the QST 99, but there is some. Nordica uses full-length sheets of metal in the Santa Ana 100 which are sandwiched around a lightweight wood core. Those full sheets of metal provide excellent vibration damping and a very stable feel, but because the metal is thinner than we often see, the ski is slightly lighter, softer-flexing, and more forgiving than a ski like the Secret 102. Overall, however, it’s likely still too much ski for an intermediate or someone who prefers slower to moderate speeds. For advanced and expert skiers, its even mix of characteristics allows you to lay over carves on firm snow, play around in power, and everything in between.

Who it's For:

Skiers who like to explore the whole mountain and have a tendency to open it up and ski at pretty high speeds from time to time.

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Overview:

The Liberty Genesis 96 is the first, and arguably the only, twin tip in this comparison. That should give you an idea of what it’s all about: playfulness. It is, however, more than just a playful twin tip, it’s a capable all mountain ski. Liberty uses a lightweight wood core of poplar, bamboo, and paulownia and enhances that core with carbon stringers. That construction results in a very lightweight ski that feels super quick, energetic, and responsive. There’s a good amount of rocker in the Genesis 96, but it’s not as pronounced as a ski like the Sky 7 and doesn’t use much early taper at all. This helps retain a longer effective edge and while the Genesis 96 isn’t the strongest or most powerful, its edge grip and overall feel on firm snow would surprise you. That said, it doesn’t have the stability at speed that really aggressive skiers look for. Its highlighting characteristic is its fun, playful feel in any conditions or terrain.

Who it's For:

Adventurous skiers who look at the whole mountain like their personal playground, but also want to be able to carve turns and cruise groomers too.

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Overview:

The Mindbender 98Ti Alliance is a new ski for 2020 and is positioned as the widest women’s Mindbender ski with metal. K2’s Y-Beam construction puts metal along the edges in the forebody of the ski, full width underfoot, then just in the center of the ski through the tail. This gives the ski a powerful, precise feel when driving carving turns and skiing aggressively, but also allows you to pivot and smear the ski by releasing the tail edge. It’s designed to have different amounts of torsional stiffness in different areas of the ski, which is a super cool concept and one that definitely seems to work. This ski has a powerful feel with a playful mindset. You can ski it fast and hard, but it has a counter-culture, K2 attitude that sets it apart in feel compared to the Santa Anas and Secrets of the world. As it’s not particularly lightweight, it does require a fairly skilled, aggressive skier in order to unlock its more playful side. Less aggressive skiers will mostly be along for the ride.

Who it's For:

Aggressive skiers who value versatility and whose skiing style leans towards the more freeride/freestyle-inspired than anything else.

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Overview:

For 2020, Head has given us new women’s Kore models! For the past couple of seasons, women have been curious if they were going to receive the same technology and design we’ve been seeing in the men’s Kore collection, and now we have an answer! Head uses a unique blend of materials including Graphene, Koroyd, karuba wood, and carbon. There’s smooth early taper paired with rocker, both of which are more pronounced in the tip. This ski is, perhaps surprisingly, incredibly stiff. It’s powerful, holds an edge extremely well, and is also very responsive. It’s also a little lighter than skis with metal construction that typically receive those same adjectives. That makes it less tiring to throw side to side in tight terrain, while still having the ability to handle high speeds on firm snow. This construction doesn’t have quite the same vibration damping as we are accustomed to from metal skis, but it makes up for that in its lighter swing weight.

Who it's For:

Aggressive skiers who value precision, power, and responsiveness, but want something a little lighter than traditional sandwich-construction skis.

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Overview:

At 96 mm underfoot, the My Ranger 96 is one of the narrowest skis in this comparison, and perhaps unsurprisingly, is also one of the best carvers. Fischer has tweaked their Ranger line for 2020. It has a slightly longer effective edge than past years and the metal laminate underfoot has been extended to integrate directly into Fischer’s Carbon Nose. This has increased stability and edge grip, but we still get the same light swing weight and versatile feel we expect from Fischer. The My Ranger 96 loves to carve through softer snow conditions and tracks really well even when things get choppy. There’s not a tremendous amount of tail rocker, but it’s still relatively easy to get the ski to pivot and smear. A skin attachment point on the tail is a nod to the intended versatility of this ski. Light enough and capable enough in soft snow that you could make it a touring ski, but you’d also be able to catch the lift later in the day and just rip some groomer runs.

Who it's For:

Skiers looking for versatile all-mountain performance who value a precise feel on groomers and soft snow prowess relatively evenly.

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Overview:

The Ripstick 102 is one of the widest skis in this comparison and if you ask Elan, it’s also the most fun. The only superlative Elan is chasing in its ski performance is just that: most fun. The Ripstick 102 uses a wood core with 3-dimensional carbon tubes running tip to tail through the ski, a construction technique that’s shared among all Ripstick models. This gives it excellent responsiveness and energy as well as impressive vibration damping for a ski that relies on carbon. They’re not overly stiff either, and the resulting feel is supportive and stable, yet playful and maneuverable. They’re light, but they’re also pretty darn strong. With a big shovel width of 143 mm and plenty of rocker, the Ripstick 102 floats exceptionally well and is a blast in soft snow conditions. Those carbon tubes also help provide enough torsional stiffness that you can link some carving turns on the groomer or cat track back to the lift, but the highlight of the Ripstick 102 is easily its fun-factor in soft snow.

Who it's For:

Playful skiers who value soft snow performance, good float, and a maneuverable, fun platform they can take anywhere on the mountain.

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Overview:

The Yvette 100 from DPS shares a similar shape with the Sky 7 HD W from Rossignol. It has plenty of rocker and significantly early taper too. It uses a relatively short turn radius of 15 m across all lengths. With a turn radius that short and that much rocker and early taper, the Yvette 100 is exceptionally quick and agile. DPS’ Alchemist construction, however, builds in more torsional stiffness and stability that you’d likely expect from a ski with this shape. It’s not the same level as a ski like the Secret 102, and really not even close if you’re looking for raw power, but its vibration damping and its ability to hold an edge is impressive considering its maneuverability. This ski will take you through the tightest terrain and will make you feel like a Rockstar while doing it, but it doesn’t have nearly the twitchy, unstable feel that sometimes comes along with skis of this shape, especially at higher speeds. If you’re wondering where the high price comes from, that’s the easiest way to justify it.

Who it's For:

Skiers who value maneuverability and like to ski tight terrain like trees and moguls, but also want some groomer performance too.

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Overview:

The Sheeva 10 from Blizzard is designed for soft snow performance and all-mountain versatility. Blizzard uses a lightweight wood core with a partial metal laminate that���s full width underfoot, then tapers and ends as it reaches the tips and tails. This gives you a stable, relatively-powerful feel underfoot so when you’re driving a turn on firm snow or skiing at speed, the ski stays quiet and calm. The tips and tails, however, are much lighter, softer-flexing, and quite rockered. When you get off-trail and ski in a more balanced stance, you can get the Sheeva 10 to pivot, smear, slash, and do all those other freeride/soft-snow techniques. It’s a versatile all-mountain ski that loves to be in soft snow conditions, but won’t complain if there doesn’t happen to be any fresh snow on a given day of skiing. Perhaps on the wide side for an eastern one-ski-quiver, unless you’re a real soft-snow-seeker.

Who it's For:

Skiers who like to get off trail and play, but also who value a relatively traditional feel underfoot and reasonably good edge grip on firm snow.

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Overview:

Atomic has two versions of their Vantage all-mountain skis: those with metal and those with carbon. The Vantage 97 C W falls into the latter category. By utilizing their Prolite construction with that carbon fiber as the key element, Atomic keeps the weight of the Vantage 97 C W to a bare minimum. It doesn’t use much rocker or early taper, however, which gives the ski really good edge grip (for being so lightweight) and a distinctly responsive feel. Skiers with a more traditional approach to their skiing technique will love the feel and maneuverability of this ski. It’s not as smeary or slarvy as skis with more tail rocker, and it’s relatively stiff, so you need to be comfortable releasing your tail edge, but the swing weight is so low that it comes around with ease if you’re a reasonably good skier. On trail, the benefit is that you get really good edge grip and responsiveness too, much better than those softer-flexing skis with tail rocker.

Who it's For:

Skiers with traditional skiing techniques who value off-piste performance and maneuverability, but also on trail edge grip and responsiveness.

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Overview:

The Armada Trace 98 has obvious freeride influence in its design. It has plenty of early taper in the tip to go along with relatively long tip rocker. At its core is poplar wood that’s paired with Armada’s Adaptive Mesh technology, which helps provide vibration damping without excessive weight. For 2020, the Trace 98 is smoother than ever before. It still has the high levels of maneuverability and soft snow performance we expect from it, but the vibration damping has gone up a notch. With a flatter tail than tip, the Trace 98 does quite well on groomers too. It doesn’t have the same power or groomer prowess as the more dedicated Victa skis, but it can hold its own. It’s also a good contender for the new Armada Shift touring binding. The versatility of that binding matches that of this ski. Not to mention, the black binding on the predominantly-black ski would look pretty slick.

Who it's For:

Skiers who value soft snow performance and versatility and value fun, playful performance over stiffness or raw power.

2020 SKI COMPARISONS:

Women's ~100 mm Skis

SKIS		RADIUS	SIDECUT	CORE	RETAIL PRICE
2020 Armada Trace 98		17m @ 164cm	127 / 98 / 119	Wood / Adaptive Mesh	$699.95
2020 Atomic Vantage 97 C W		17m @ 164cm	128.5 / 97 / 117.5	Wood / Carbon Tank Mesh	$499.99
2020 Blizzard Sheeva 10		17.5m @ 180cm	133 / 102 / 122.5	Titanal Y-Beam	$599.95
2020 DPS Yvette 100 RP Alchemist		15m @ 163cm	130 / 100 / 115	Wood / Carbon	$1,299.00
2020 Elan Ripstick 102		17m @ 170cm	143 / 102 / 120	Wood / Carbon Tubes	$649.99
2020 Fischer My Ranger 96 Ti		17 @ 174cm	128 / 95 / 120	Air Carbon Ti	$699.99
2020 Head Kore 99 W		15.1 m at 171	131 / 97 / 118	Graphene / Koroyd / Carbon	$699.00
2020 K2 Mindbender 98Ti Alliance		15.6m @ 168cm	134 / 98 / 120	Wood / Titanal Y-Beam	$699.95
2020 Liberty Genesis 96		14m @ 158cm	130 / 96 / 117	Wood / Carbon	$549.00
2020 Nordica Santa Ana 100		15.5m @ 169cm	131 / 100 / 119	Wood / Titanal	$699.99
2020 Rossignol Sky 7 HD W		16m @ 164cm	128 / 96 / 118	Wood / Carbon / Air Tip 2.0	$699.95
2020 Salomon QST Lumen 99		19m @ 174cm	130 / 99 / 112	Wood / Titanal / Carbon / Cork	$649.99
2020 Volkl Secret 102		16.3m @ 163	140 / 102 / 123	Wood / Titanal Frame	$749.00

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Written by Jeff Neagle on 10/29/19