Playful but stable 90-something mm ski?

[contesstant]

@lisamamot, I finally got out on my Sheevas this year (early to be skiing them-we have lots of snow!) I have gotten better even since the end of last season--I LOVE these skis! There is something about the short turn radius combined with the metal under foot for stability that makes them solid yet playful. I love them so much, I'm getting a pair of the 9s for all but deep powder days. They are fun in cut up crap, soft groomers, powder, you name it. (They actually rip on the groomers!) Definitely get out on the 172s if you can. If you can't find them, then the Rustler is the men's version.

 

[santacruz skier]

@contesstant cant remember- have you tried the 9's? Those are high on my list... will they replace your BP 88's? I, too, love the Sheeva 10's in powder!

 

[contesstant]

@contesstant cant remember- have you tried the 9's? Those are high on my list... will they replace your BP 88's? I, too, love the Sheeva 10's in powder!

Yes, and they ski almost identically to the 10s, just narrower. I'm not sure which ski will leave, the 88s or the Sheeva 10s since I already have Santa Ana 100s. Or, I'll keep them all!!

 

[MissySki]

Yes, and they ski almost identically to the 10s, just narrower. I'm not sure which ski will leave, the 88s or the Sheeva 10s since I already have Santa Ana 100s. Or, I'll keep them all!!

I love this!

 

[lisamamot]

Yes, and they ski almost identically to the 10s, just narrower. I'm not sure which ski will leave, the 88s or the Sheeva 10s since I already have Santa Ana 100s. Or, I'll keep them all!!

I represent this!

 

[contesstant]

Yes, we are quite a bunch, aren't we?!
Hey, when you ski 50-100 days per year, you can't have too many skis!

 

[santacruz skier]

Yes, we are quite a bunch, aren't we?!
Hey, when you ski 50-100 days per year, you can't have too many skis!

What length Sheeva 9 did you try? For me, I see a 148 and 156... The Sheeva 10's I demoed for two days were 156. I'm only 5'1 105 ish.
And I only ski 35-40 ish days but do out of country ski trips as well and try to demo there.

 

[contesstant]

I skied the 164, same length that I own the 10 in. They do ski short, lots of rocker in tip and tail.

 

[santacruz skier]

I skied the 164, same length that I own the 10 in. They do ski short, lots of rocker in tip and tail.

Then def the156 for me.

 

[contesstant]

Then def the156 for me.

For deeper powder, I sometimes want the longer (172.) But, that's what I have the Santa Ana's for.

 

[santacruz skier]

For deeper powder, I sometimes want the longer (172.) But, that's what I have the Santa Ana's for.

Another reason to keep them? ha ha ..
At my height and weight I think the 156 would be fine. Size charts have me on 145's ! I usually ski low-mid 150's range... Rossi 7's were 162 but super rockered. The last straight skis I owned were Salomon ?? and were like 183.

 

[lisamamot]

Yes, we are quite a bunch, aren't we?!
Hey, when you ski 50-100 days per year, you can't have too many skis!

Yeah, or if you just ski varied conditions and believe in the right tool for the job! I am going with that

 

[SqueakySnow]

I love my Salomon QST 92s. Reading your description, it looks like a good fit. They have a pretty tight turning radius, are light and responsive, great edge grip on the groomers, and are wide enough to get in a bit of soft snow without sinking. They are a great ski for a lot of conditions, definitely equipment you can put your trust in. Versatile, solid, and still a bit playful.

 

[lisamamot]

I love my Salomon QST 92s. Reading your description, it looks like a good fit. They have a pretty tight turning radius, are light and responsive, great edge grip on the groomers, and are wide enough to get in a bit of soft snow without sinking. They are a great ski for a lot of conditions, definitely equipment you can put your trust in. Versatile, solid, and still a bit playful.

Thanks! I will look for this at the demo. Looks like the women’s is the QST Lux 92 for 2019. Do you feel they ski short? With tip and tail rocker and the longest length at 169 I am always curious.

 

[kiki]

I"m on the 165cm z-90 it doesn't ski short, imo

I'm 5'2 150# on the 165 z90. LOVE them

 

[contesstant]

Sheeva 9s arrived today. Now just waiting for the bindings...USPS is not particularly reliable They've been sitting in Denver for 4 days, after supposedly shipping out 6 days ago. Now they are somewhere "in transit". I want to ski them on Thursday--we have a moderate storm moving in tomorrow for the day!

 

[SqueakySnow]

@lisamamot I think they ski pretty true to length. There is more rocker in the tip and only a slight bit at the tail. Here are 2 rather unattractive photos to illustrate the amount of rocker in last year's version of the QST Lux 92 Hope that helps. BTW, my wife has a pair of Icelantic Maiden 101 twin tips, and they definitely ski short and are super playful. She loves them.

 

[geargrrl]

Hello ladies. I'm gonna jump in here. I haven't been posting much. Some of you know I was out all last season with ACl/MCL surgery. I was going to get new skis for the season but then I was out.... Sothis year I am ski shopping again. Got my new boots today and all my current boards are mounted, yay!!

My go-tso ski shop was sold, so I am now working with the other shop in town that has an excellent rep. The go-to guy whom everyone raves about as really knowing his stuff really listened to me carefully and gave me these suggestions:
Volkl Secret
Nordica Santa Ana
Salomon QST 92
Head Wild Joy
in my quest to replace the 2010 Aura I loved so much that was 94 underneath..
What do you think of this? He said that the Secret is built much like the original Aura, back to a cambered construction. I got an earful about Volkl management and how they lost a lot of advanced skiers over the last few year and are getting back to the original Mantra and Aura concept.

I've search through this thread and a few others and my only takeaway is that the groupthink is the Secret and Wild Joy are less playful than some other skis.

I may ski what I have through the winter and try and hit the big demo days in the spring for next fall purchase.

Anyone care to comment?

 

[VickiK]

From the reading I've been doing (fwiw), all of those sound like solid choices. I hate to sound like a fangirl, but the Black Pearl 88 would be a reasonable addition to that list.

Skiing what you have and later demoing is a good idea. You'll have your new boots dialed in by then.

Ski Essentials did an extensive ski test review for 2019 skis, and I believe all 4 skis you listed were covered. They also did a comparison of 90mm women's skis. https://www.skiessentials.com/Chair...ngo_id=5b2807299df2e51bddde26fa#article-video

 

[santacruz skier]

I demoed the Wild Joy in Tahoe in a 153 all day and really liked it.... In groomed and some tracked up snow... Can't remember if I took it in the bumps. I'm bad - never take notes . Two days later with 6 feet new snow demoed the sheeva 10 for two days. Another really fun ski! I'm no help .