Ski: 2019-2020 Renoun Citadel 114 (prototype), 186 cm
Available Lengths: TBD
Blister’s Measured Tip-to-Tail Length: 184.0 cm
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski: 1753 & 1756 grams
Stated Dimensions: 144-114-133 mm
Blister’s Measured Dimensions: 144.3-113.5-133.7 mm
Stated Sidecut Radius (186 cm): 20 meters
Measured Tip & Tail Splay (ski decambered): 83 mm / 45 mm
Measured Traditional Camber Underfoot: 3 mm
Core: Aspen + HDT inlays + Carbon Laminate
Base: Sintered Durasurf 4001
Factory Recommended Mount Point: -7.5 cm from center; 84.2 cm from tail
Intro
If you’re not familiar with Renoun, they’re a relatively new company based out of Vermont, and what makes them unique is their use of what they call “HDT,” or “Hyper Damping Technology.”
You can listen below to our podcast with Renoun founder, Cyrus Schenck, for the whole story, but the quick version is that HDT is a non-Newtonian polymer that hardens when it is subjected to impacts / vibrations. For skis, this translates to skis that feel stiffer and stronger the harder you push them. While we’re always wary of bold claims like this, our experiences on the Renoun Z-Line 90, Endurance 98, and Citadel 106 have all proven that HDT does create a noticeable difference in skis.
Today we’re talking about a brand-new ski from Renoun. It’s actually not available right now, but Renoun has been working on the prototypes of the new Citadel 114 for some time now, and they wanted to get our take on it. This is the widest ski that Renoun has made, and like many of their other skis, it’s very light. So let’s see how the design of this newest and widest ski from Renoun compares to the rest of the market, and its narrower sibling, the Citadel 106.
Shape / Rocker Profile
For using such a wild, modern construction, the Citadel 114 has a pretty traditional shape (apart from its squared-off tip shape). For a 114mm-wide ski in 2019, the Citadel 114 has a very subtle amount of tip taper. And right away, this is something that got me and Jonathan very excited. When making skis really light, tapering them a lot tends to further amplify lighter skis’ lack of stability, so laying off the taper on the Citadel 114 seems like it could improve its stability compared to similarly light skis (especially when you take into account its HDT construction).
The Citadel 114’s tail is similar to its tip — it has a bit of taper, but not very much, and its tail has a lot of surface area (it doesn’t taper to a point). Overall, the Citadel 114’s shape is not very far off from the Moment Wildcat Tour.
The Citadel 114’s rocker profile is less conservative. It has a pretty deep tip rocker line that rises quite quickly to a very large amount of tip splay. Combined with the Citadel 114’s fat tips, that should help the Citadel 114 float quite well. The Citadel 114 has a notably shallower and less splayed-out tail, though it has more tail rocker than many of the more traditional, directional skis in this class like the Volkl V-Werks Katana and Black Diamond Helio 116. Overall, the Citadel 114’s rocker profile looks somewhat similar to the Blizzard Rustler 11’s.
Compared to the narrower Renoun Citadel 106, the Citadel 114 has a very similar shape but much deeper rocker lines and more tip and tail splay.
Flex Pattern
Here’s how we’d characterize the flex pattern of the Citadel 114:
Tips: 6
Shovels: 6.5-7
In Front of Toe Piece: 8-9
Underfoot: 9
Behind the Heel Piece: 8.5-8
Tails: 8-7
Like the Citadel 106, the Citadel 114 has a pretty accessible flex pattern, at least when hand-flexing it. Its tips and tails are pretty easy to bend (with its tail being a bit stiffer than its tip), but the ski smoothly stiffens up as you move to the middle of the ski. This is not a particularly burly flex pattern, but it’s by no means super soft, and one of the most notable things about the Citadel 114’s flex pattern is that it’s not super stiff around the middle; it’s still notably stronger than in the middle than at the tips and tails, but we’ve flexed a lot of skis that feel stiffer around the bindings than the Citadel 114.
As with the other Renoun skis, our flex pattern numbers for the Citadel 114 should be taken with a grain of salt. Unlike most skis, Renoun’s HDT skis tend to feel different on snow than they do when you hand-flex them, so we imagine that the Citadel 114 will feel notably stiffer on snow when you’re skiing it hard and fast, particularly in rough snow.
Mount Point
The Citadel 106 we tested had a very progressive mount point of around -5 cm from center. The Citadel 114 has a more rearward mount point of around -7.5 cm from center. That’s still a bit more forward than some of the directional skis in this class, but isn’t as forward as some skis like the Moment Wildcat Tour or Line Vision 108.
Weight
For its size, the 186 cm Citadel 114 is quite light at around 1755 grams per ski. That puts it in roughly the same class as touring skis like the Black Diamond Helio 116 and Moment Wildcat Tour (and the Atomic Bent Chetler 120).
We’re really curious to see how the Citadel 114’s HDT construction will affect its stability at speed and in variable conditions, particularly compared to similarly light skis, and heavier skis.
For reference, here are a number of our measured weights (per ski in grams) for some notable skis. Keep in mind the length differences to try to keep things apples-to-apples.
1605 & 1630 Line Vision 108, 183 cm (19/20)
1606 & 1641 Blizzard Zero G 105, 188 cm (19/20)
1642 & 1651 Renoun Citadel 106, 185 cm, (18/19–19/20)
1642 & 1662 Atomic Backland 107, 182 cm (18/19–19/20)
1654 & 1682 Black Diamond Helio 116, 186 cm (17/18–19/20)
1660 & 1680 Moment Deathwish Tour, 184 cm (19/20)
1706 & 1715 Volkl BMT 109, 186 cm (17/18–19/20)
1710 & 1744 Atomic Bent Chetler 120, 184 cm (18/19–19/20)
1733 & 1735 Blizzard Zero G 108, 185 cm (17/18–18/19)
1745 & 1747 4FRNT Raven, 184 cm (16/17–19/20)
1752 & 1771 Amplid Facelift 108, 189 cm (18/19–19/20)
1753 & 1756 Renoun Citadel 114, 186 cm (19/20)
1795 & 1817 Moment Wildcat Tour, 184 cm (18/19–19/20)
1808 & 1809 Line Pescado, 180 cm (17/18–19/20)
1825 & 1904 Black Crows Corvus Freebird, 183.3 cm (17/18–19/20)
1910 & 1941 Scott Scrapper 115, 189 cm (17/18–19/20)
1931 & 1959 Volkl BMT 122, 186 cm (17/18–18/19)
1959 & 1975 Volkl V-Werks Katana, 184 cm (15/16–19/20)
2006 & 2011 Rossignol Super 7 HD, 188 cm (17/18–19/20)
2013 & 2099 Moment Wildcat / Blister Pro, 184 cm (18/19–19/20)
2019 & 2051 K2 Mindbender 116C, 186 cm (19/20)
2024 & 2031 Line Outline, 186 cm (19/20)
2034 & 2052 Blizzard Rustler 11, 188 cm (17/18–19/20)
2043 & 2046 4FRNT Inthayne, 188 cm (18/19-19/20)
2102 & 2137 Line Sick Day 114, 190 cm (17/18–19/20)
2105 & 2185 Head Kore 117, 189 cm (19/20)
2126 & 2173 Rossignol Super 7 RD, 190 cm (17/18–19/20)
2173 & 2204 4FRNT Renegade, 191 cm (19/20)
2174 & 2187 Moment Wildcat / Blister Pro, 190 cm (18/19–19/20)
2130 & 2213 Faction Candide 4.0, 188 cm (19/20)
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) How will the Citadel 114 compare to the narrower Citadel 106 on which it’s based? Are these skis really similar, or is this wider ski something entirely different?
(2) The Citadel 114 has a fairly progressive mount point, a moderate flex pattern, and lots of rocker. So just how playful will it feel, and how will more directional and more playful skiers get along with it?
(3) Given its rocker profile, weight, flex pattern, and mount point, how will the Citadel 114 compare to some of the playful skis in this class (e.g., Moment Wildcat Tour & Atomic Bent Chetler 120) as well as the more directional options (e.g., Black Diamond Helio 116)?
(4) The Citadel 114 is similarly light compared to many skis that we like as dedicated backcountry skis, but Renoun’s HDT construction adds another variable into the stability question, so should the Citadel 114 be thought of mostly as a ski that you’d use in good snow while touring, or could it also work as an inbounds or 50/50 ski?
Bottom Line (For Now)
The Renoun Citadel 114 combines a fairly traditional shape with a radical construction, low weight, and modern rocker profile. Interestingly, basically all of us at Blister are really intrigued by this ski (playful and more directional reviewers alike), so we’re really eager to get it on snow. Stay tuned for updates…
Well this is exciting, I was just thinking to myself that Renoun needed to make a bigger powder ski. Positively love my Endurance 98s and was kinda hoping they would make a ~115 Endurance, but after reading your first look I think this ski might work out for me. I’m excited to see the flash and/or the full reviews when you guys get some time on them.
The soft center flex is really interesting, given that in their existing skis most of the HDT channels are in front of and behind the bindings. In the Citadel 106 they have one channel on each side of the mounting area. If they’ve carried that over then I wouldn’t expect HDT to add much to the underfoot stiffness of the ski.