2020-2021 Folsom Cash 106 Carbon

Intro

Last year we reviewed Folsom’s Trophy Carbon, a 115mm-wide playful pow ski with a lightweight, touring-friendly construction. Sam Shaheen and I both came away really liking the ski, and while we’ve now reviewed several custom, inbounds-oriented skis from Folsom, we were curious to try their carbon construction in a more versatile shape.

Enter the Cash 106 Carbon. The pair we’re reviewing is one of Folsom’s “stock” builds and you could tweak your own pair however you like through their custom process, but let’s dive into the pair we have and how it compares to the rest of the market.

What Folsom says about the Cash 106

“A User Friendly All Mountain Ski:

• 106mm underfoot across a multitude of lengths creates a one-ski-quiver for intermediate to advanced skiers
• Recommended Directional Rocker profile makes an excellent build with superior energy transmission through the ski for the traditional skier
• Shorter turning radius across all lengths keeps the Cash playful and reactive”

This is a pretty straightforward description for a 106mm-wide ski. Folsom makes a few different shapes in the 104-110 mm width range, including the 104mm-wide Primary 104, 106mm-wide Cash 106, 108mm-wide Completo, and 110mm-wide Primary. The Completo is the most tapered and designed to be the easiest and most intuitive, while the Primary 104 and Primary are the least tapered and designed for advanced and expert skiers. The Cash 106 falls in between, with more tip taper than the Primary skis but not nearly as much tip and tail taper as the Completo.

Given that Folsom will change the construction, flex pattern, and rocker profile however you want, here’s the rundown on the pair we have:

Construction

The Cash 106 Carbon we have uses Folsom’s lightweight aspen & bamboo core and a full carbon-fiber laminate, rather than the fiberglass / carbon blends typically used in their inbounds skis. Unlike some touring skis, the Cash 106 Carbon still features the same thick top sheet, sintered Durasurf 4001 base, and 2.5 mm edges of their inbounds skis.

Shape / Rocker Profile

As we noted above, the Cash 106’s tips are more tapered than their Primary 104 and Primary shapes, while the tails on those three skis look pretty similar. Overall, the shape / taper of the Cash 106 isn’t far off from the Salomon QST 106, K2 Wayback 106, and Line Sick Day 104.

The Cash 106 Carbon we have features Folsom’s “directional rocker profile,” which they describe as having “tip rocker, camber underfoot, and a shallower tail rocker profile.”

Overall, the rocker profile of the Cash 106 Carbon looks pretty similar to the rocker profile of the Folsom Blister Pro 104 we made with them this past season, though the Blister Pro 104 has a slightly deeper tip rocker line. Again, you’d be able to tweak the rocker profile of the Cash 106 Carbon however you want.

Compared to the Volkl Blaze 106, the Cash 106 Carbon with its Directional Rocker has a much shallower tip rocker line and a similar tail rocker line. Compared to the Line Vision 108, the Cash 106 Carbon’s rocker lines are much shallower and it has a lower tail. The rocker profile of the Cash 106 Carbon we have is fairly similar to the Blizzard Zero G 105.

Flex Pattern

Folsom says the Cash 106 Carbon we have features their “stiff” flex pattern, and here’s how we’d characterize that flex pattern:

Tips: 6-6.5
Shovels: 6.5-7.5
In Front of Toe Piece: 8-9.5
Underfoot: 10
Behind the Heel Piece: 10-8.5
Tails: 8-7.5

The Cash 106 Carbon is not super stiff, but I also wouldn’t call it particularly soft. It’s much softer in the shovel and tail vs. the Blister Pro 104, but that ski is very strong (and evidence that Folsom can make a ski as stiff as you want).

The Cash 106 Carbon’s tips and shovels are fairly easy to bend, but it quickly and smoothly stiffens up once you move into the cambered portion of the ski. And I like that, while the Cash 106 Carbon’s tail is stiffer than the tip, it’s not a massive difference and the tail isn’t super stiff.

Sidecut Radius

At 21 meters for the 184 cm length, the Cash 106 Carbon’s sidecut radius is neither super long nor super short. And personally, I think a moderate radius makes a lot of sense for varying backcountry conditions.

Mount Point

The Cash 106 Carbon we have came with a pretty traditional mount point of about -9 cm from true center, similar to the Blister Pro 104.

Weight

The Cash 106 Carbon we have is a very lightweight ski overall, though it’s definitely not super light compared to most dedicated touring skis. And Folsom let us know that this is intentional — they wanted this ski to perform really well on the down and know some customers who like to use their carbon construction in the resort. The weight of the Cash 106 Carbon puts it in line with several skis we’re happy to use in the backcountry and the resort, such as the Armada Tracer 108, WNDR Alpine Intention 110, and Line Sick Day 104.

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.

1476 & 1490 K2 Wayback 106, 179 cm (18/19–20/21)
1547 & 1551 Black Diamond Helio 105 Carbon, 185 cm (17/18–19/20)
1605 & 1630 Line Vision 108, 183 cm (19/20–20/21)
1606 & 1641 Blizzard Zero G 105, 188 cm (19/20–20/21)
1642 & 1651 Renoun Citadel 106, 185 cm, (18/19–19/20)
1642 & 1662 Atomic Backland 107, 182 cm (18/19–20/21)
1660 & 1680 Moment Deathwish Tour, 184 cm (19/20)
1692 & 1715 Moment Wildcat Tour 108, 184 cm (18/19–19/20)
1706 & 1715 Volkl BMT 109, 186 cm (17/18–20/21)
1725 & 1774 Faction Agent 3.0, 180 cm (20/21)
1745 & 1747 4FRNT Raven, 184 cm (16/17–19/20)
1752 & 1771 Amplid Facelift 108, 189 cm (18/19–20/21)
1784 & 1790 Volkl Blaze 106, 186 cm (20/21)
1787 & 1793 Fauna Pioneer, 184 cm (19/20–20/21)
1787 & 1806 WNDR Alpine Intention 110 – Cambered, 185 cm (19/20)
1806 & 1862 Armada Tracer 108, 180 cm (19/20–20/21)
1818 & 1823 Folsom Cash 106 Carbon, 184 cm (20/21)
1828 & 1842 Elan Ripstick 106 Black Edition, 188 cm (19/20)
1848 & 1903 Line Sick Day 104, 186 cm (17/18–20/21)
1849 & 1922 Elan Ripstick 106, 188 cm (17/18–19/20)
1918 & 1931 Sego Condor 108, 187 cm (19/20–20/21)
1951 & 1953 Elan Ripstick 106, 188 cm (20/21)
1993 & 2026 Black Crows Atris, 184.2 cm (17/18–20/21)
1996 & 2012 Dynastar Legend X106, 188 cm (17/18–19/20)
2005 & 2035 Liberty Origin 106, 187 cm (19/20–20/21)
2006 & 2065 Head Kore 105, 189 cm (19/20–20/21)
2011 & 2028 Moment Wildcat 108, 184 cm (19/20)
2027 & 2052 K2 Reckoner 112, 184 cm (20/21)
2030 & 2039 Rossignol Soul 7 HD, 188 cm (17/18–19/20)
2079 & 2105 Kastle FX106 HP, 184 cm (19/20–20/21)
2096 & 2100 Salomon QST 106, 181 cm (19/20–20/21)
2097 & 2113 DPS Alchemist Wailer 106 C2, 189 cm (19/20–20/21)
2101 & 2104 Fischer Ranger 102 FR, 184 cm (18/19–20/21)
2110 & 2119 Moment Wildcat 108, 190 cm (19/20)
2112 & 2125 4FRNT MSP 107, 187 cm (18/19–20/21)
2120 & 2134 Blizzard Rustler 10, 188 cm (19/20–20/21)
2143 & 2194 ON3P Wrenegade 108, 184 cm (18/19–19/20)
2153 & 2184 Rossignol BLACKOPS Sender Ti, 187 cm (20/21)
2165 & 2211 K2 Mindbender 108Ti, 186 cm (19/20–20/21)
2165 & 2219 Icelantic Nomad 105, 191 cm (19/20–20/21)
2170 & 2180 Dynastar M-Free 108, 182 cm (20/21)
2177 & 2180 Moment Commander 108, 188 cm (19/20)
2182 & 2218 Nordica Enforcer 110 Free, 185 cm (17/18–20/21)
2188 & 2190 Prior Northwest 110, 190 cm (19/20–20/21)
2190 & 2268 Armada ARV 106Ti LTD, 188 cm (18/19–19/20)
2202 & 2209 Shaggy’s Ahmeek 105, 186 cm (19/20)
2218 & 2244 Volkl Mantra 102, 184 cm (19/20–20/21)
2232 & 2242 Blizzard Cochise 106, 185 cm (20/21)
2232 & 2244 ON3P Woodsman 108, 187 cm (19/20)
2233 & 2255 Nordica Enforcer 104 Free, 186 cm (19/20–20/21)
2250 & 2307 Argent Badger, 184 cm (19/20)
2283 & 2290 ON3P Wrenegade 108, 189 cm (18/19–19/20)
2312 & 2386 Prior Husume, 188 cm (17/18–20/21)
2318 & 2341 J Skis The Metal, 186 cm (16/17–19/20)
2321 & 2335 Fischer Ranger 107 Ti, 189 cm (19/20–20/21)
2325 & 2352 Folsom Blister Pro 104, 186 cm (19/20)

Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About

(1) At least on paper, the main difference between the Cash 106 and Primary 104 shapes appears to lie in the Cash 106’s increased tip taper, so how similar will the shapes feel on snow?

(2) Given its moderate weight, how stable will the Cash 106 Carbon feel in variable backcountry snow, and how well will it handle hard and fast skiing in the resort?

(3) As with all skis in this width, we’re curious to see how well the Cash 106 will handle everything from firm and smooth snow to soft and deep conditions.