Team Effort: Pros Weigh in on Salomon’s Best QST Ski Yet

When given a ‘blank slate,’ Salomon’s freeride athletes aimed to create the most balanced, stable, floatable, and powerful ski yet.

For the third generation of its QST line, Salomon tasked its athletes to help create the ideal powder ski. The catch? They’d design it together, starting from a blank slate.

Thus the Salomon QST Blank was born. The 112mm-waisted QST Blank joins the rest of the Salomon QST line for 2022. It’s a from-the-ground-up design that will replace the 118mm model and joins a line that includes 92mm, 98mm, and 106mm models.

For transparency, we haven’t tested this ski yet. But the brand kicked out a press release with a bunch of info nuggets that grabbed our attention. From the specs and claims, the QST Blank line sounds like a lot of fun for advanced skiers.

“Over the past five years, the QST line has brought new technologies and materials to market — skis that have changed the narration of freeride skiing,” the brand wrote. And now, it hopes to change the standard in freeride skis once again.

Enter the QST Blank. Or, as Salomon likes to call it, “a pillow-poppin’, powder-lovin’, 112mm-waist ski built to slay everything on deep days.”

The QST Blank is Salomon’s new flagship, pro freeride ski. It’s for those who ski hard in deep snow, those who don’t shy away from big lines or expert terrain. With this QST model, Salomon is definitely targeting more advanced skiers and pros. Case in point: The QST comes in 186cm and 194cm lengths.

QST Blank Technology

Salomon’s QST Blank uses new construction (not to mention design) with double sidewalls. Plus, tip and tail cork “damplifier” technology provide a playful boost.

With feedback from the athletes, Salomon’s product designers combined the QST 118 and 106 designs to start, then tweaked the specs along the way. Salomon adjusted the shape, lowered the widest points, lengthened the rocker, and sculpted an early rise in the tip and tail.

“Double sidewalls will add stability and power underfoot for full confidence in the steeps and packed snow, while the tip and tail cork damplifier combined with [its] new shape are providing [the] next level of versatility and playfulness,” the press release explained.

Why use cork? Cork is extremely lightweight and also 16 times more vibration-absorbing than Koroyd, a material Salomon uses in the tips of its other QSTs. The brand also re-hauled this QST’s weight ratio.

“Alexi Godbout weighed in on playfulness, while Stan Rey and Chris Rubens brought their ex-racer-turned-powder-pig needs to the table,” Salomon wrote.

“Leah Evans chimed in on flotation, Josh Daiek sounded off on power and stability, and Cody Townsend delivered on weight versus performance. And young guns like Nico Vuignier and Ugo Troubat made sure liveliness and agility were not forgotten.”

Essentially, it was a team effort.

The QST Blank is named after BLANK Collective, an athlete film group in British Columbia, some of whom helped design this “ultimate” QST ski. Whether it really turns out to be the ultimate freeride ski is up to us — and you — to decide. Keep an eye out for this ski as it hits the market in fall 2021.

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