Flash Review: Our Initial On-Snow Impressions
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Salomon has announced that they’re adding another model to their QST line of freeride skis, the QST X.
In short, the QST X is a 116mm-wide, powder-oriented ski that’s built with human-powered skiing in mind but isn’t meant to be a touring-specific model. It blends design elements of Salomon’s lighter QST Echo 106 and their heavier, more charging-oriented QST Blank models — and then adds its own unique twists.
From the QST Echo 106, the QST X inherits a lightweight poplar / karuba wood core and a recycled ABS sidewall. From the QST Blank, the QST X borrows that ski’s Cork Damplifier inserts at the tip and tail, as well as Salomon’s “Double Sidewall” construction underfoot.
Compared to the 112mm-wide QST Blank, the 116mm-wide QST X reportedly features deeper rocker lines at the tip and tail and a much longer stated sidecut radius (25 meters for the 184 cm QST X, whereas the 186 cm QST Blank’s is 17 meters). For what it’s worth, our reviewer, Paul Forward, spent some time skiing in Alaska earlier this winter with Cody Townsend, who has had a big hand in the QST X’s development and was skiing a pair at the time; Paul said the tail rocker profile of the QST X that Cody was skiing reminded him of the old QST 118.
The QST X is also notably lighter than its slightly narrower sibling, sitting at a stated weight of 1900 grams per ski for the 184 cm (the 186 cm QST Blank is around 2220 grams). That makes the QST X quite light for its size, but I’d probably still tentatively put it into the “50/50” category of pow skis that could potentially work well in the backcountry or resort — we’ll just need to test one to find out.
In sum, the QST X looks like a pretty powder-oriented ski that’s light for its size, but Salomon definitely isn’t positioning it as some ultralight model that can only be fun in perfect, untracked pow.
We’ll begin testing the QST X next week at Blister Summit 2024 — and you can too! Salomon will be bringing tons of their new 24/25 products for attendees to try at the Summit, including their new skis, new boots, new Shift2 binding, and more.
In the meantime, BLISTER+ members should stay tuned for Flash Reviews of all the new Salomon gear in the coming weeks.
For reference, here are some basic specs about the ski:
2024-2025 Salomon QST X
MSRP: $800
Available Lengths: 178 cm, 184 cm, 192 cm
Stated Dimensions (184 cm): 140-116-127 mm
Stated Sidecut Radius (184 cm): 25 m
Stated Weight (184 cm): 1900 grams per ski
Description from Salomon:
“Harnessing know-how from years of building the world’s most versatile skis, we tasked our athletes from around the globe to deliver a new level of drift, power and finesse for the deepest and steepest of days. The result – QST X! Cork Damplifier inserts in the tip and the tail pair with our lightweight karuba and poplar woodcore, Flax/Carbon Superlight Fibers and an all-new freeride profile (translation – more rocker!) to make this ski your ideal powder partner.”
Salomon athletes be tourin’. Love the tie dye!
Appreciate the reflection back to the QST 118. Would also appreciate comparing to old Rocker2 lineup from the brand.
Dang, looks like this ski aint for short people!
Skis that deeply rockered usually ski a bit “short”.
I think that 178 is a reasonable starting length for a ski like this, provided there’s a womens’ version underneath.
Looks like the same ski Stan Ray is skiing Whistler/Blackcomb Black d/dd/and ddd on…
Ordering. The last thing I need is a ski this wide. I just want the bases!
And the graphics are going to match the updated Shift 2.0 binding. Chef’s Kiss!
Give me a full poplar wood core in a 188
Anyone know the mount point on these?
+1
I meant also wondering ;)
Not yet, but we’ll get one measured as soon as we get it in for a long-term review. When I tried it at the Summit, it looked and felt more centered than the QST 106 and QST Blank, but the QST X still responded to a forward stance pretty well in the conditions I had it in (see my Flash Review for more). My guess would be somewhere between -4 and -6 cm from true center, but we’ll add that info in our First Look once we get the skis.
Tested the QST X at the blister summit mentioned here. Too soft, no turning radius at all. 25 is dishonest as there is no real turn radius (like ice skates on ice, except you are in powder)
tiny iceskate underneath, no front side at all (it just buckle’s if you lean even slightly forward).
It’s good for people who don’t know how to ski powder or anything else, I guess… as they won’t know the difference…
I tried doing the “bounce bounce bounce” approach to powder skiing and they just folded up like a cheap suit.
If you ski less than 2 mph through untracked, untouched powder, that is the only application for this ski.
Karuba equals cheap knockoff. It’s heavier than balsa, but also less stiff and if you’ve any real experience with the wood also has very poor recidivism over time (meaning it will bend out of shape quickly and not go back). worst of both worlds.
I’d like to point out that balsa is already amongst the least worth woods in existence. It’s just crap holing low quality materials and trying to pass them off as quality. I”m guessing the skis cost less than 2 dollars each to make.
Ha, wow, I’m sorry to hear you had such a bad time on it. While I disagree with most of your statements, I do very much hope you were able to try some other skis at the Summit that better suited your preferences and resulted in more enjoyable on-snow experiences.