This was the best day of the season! The Sunday sun shined bright overhead after a massive storm blasted Colorado throughout the day before. Eighteen inches far surpassed the forecasted 7, and there were easily 2 feet of fresh coldsmoke powder (if you knew where to look).
And look we did: My friends and I barreled and slashed through deep snow in the trees, out in the open, and straight down the fall lines, lap after lap.
Being an ideal Sunday on a crowded Colorado resort, the untouched powder started getting tracked out by 10 a.m. But interestingly, my Scott SEA 108s got progressively more fun throughout the day. I never thought I’d have more fun as the freshies got skied off. But given that most of my resort ski days coincide with soft but less-than-perfect powder, the new freeride ski from Scott continued to make sense day after day.
The SEA 108s are new for ‘24/25 and sport shapes and widths for big mountain soft snow shredding. Yet I found their imposing size and dimensions deceptive — they were easy to ski and just plain fun. Still, it took me many days to pinpoint what makes these skis tick. But believe me, testing these big mountain sticks wasn’t a chore.
In short: New Scott SEA 108 skis aren’t the big mountain bruisers that you’d expect from the dimensions. With distinct attention to weight savings and versatile design, Scott managed to build a pair of skis with a playful, maneuverable character that excels in big, imposing terrain. They come alive in mellower resort terrain, too.
While ideally suited to soft, choppy snow, the SEA 108 can slash through powder and butter through hardpack terrain with grace. They love to jump, drift, and drop features all over the resort, and they’ll match well with intermediate and expert skiers who like to get creative. The catch? The progressive freestyle-oriented mount point won’t suit every skier on the mountain — especially those who are traditional carvers.
Want something versatile? Check out GearJunkie’s guide to the best all-mountain skis.
- Weight per ski: 1,880, 1,910, 2,115, 2,220 g
- Length: 168, 176, 184, 192 cm
- Radius: 16, 17, 19, 20 m
- Sidecut tail: 128 mm
- Sidecut waist: 108 mm
- Sidecut tip: 139 mm
- Core: Poplar, fiberglass, titanal
- Profile: Rockered tip and tail, mellow camber underfoot
Pros
- Forgiving and easy to ski
- Smooth and buttery across the snow spectrum
- Perfectly matched to soft, choppy resort terrain
- Lightweight
Cons
- Forward mount point won’t suit every skier
- Not as floaty as other skis this wide
- Not precise or energetic on hardpack
Scott SEA 108 Review

In a lot of ways, the Scott SEA 108s have been an interesting pair to test and attempt to describe. My pages of scribbled notes seem to be pointing to a few pairs of skis rather than one. There are contradictions and questions with many different answers.
There are characteristics that don’t line up with the skis’ dimensions. And they don’t fit neatly in any one ski category. One thing has been consistent, though: I’ve had an outrageous amount of fun aboard the SEA 108s.
Build

The SEA 108 comes in four sizes: 168, 176, 184, and 192cm. At 6’1” and 190 pounds, I nervously went for the 192cm length. They’re the longest skis I’ve ever stepped into over 3 decades of skiing. I expected that my ego was in for a bruising, that they were about to ski me instead of the other way around.
The SEA 108 packs in a full-length poplar core like you’d want in a ski that blurs the line between freeride and freestyle. Fiberglass adds a little extra pop, and a sheet of titanal underfoot holds together a damp, strong package.
The resulting flex was medium and balanced front and back — though slightly stiffer in the tails than the nose. They felt stiff enough for fast and loose freeriding without feeling like a chore to bend in and out of turns and at slower speeds.
They feel lighter on the snow than their relatively light 2,220g weight suggests, especially in the tips and tails. Part of that weight savings come from Scott’s Air Tech core, where they essentially mill channels out of the wood to drop the weight by about 10%. It’s similar to what Volkl and Fischer do in their weight-conscious skis, which have impressed me.
I mounted Look Pivot 14 bindings 1 cm back from Scott’s suggested mount point. Their suggested mount point is a freestyle-inspired forward mount if I’ve ever seen one, and it’s the most idiosyncratic element of the SEA 108’s design.
That means lots of tail for landing switch and less shovel length than something more traditional. My 16-year-old self would have been psyched for all the backward possibilities. Freestylers take note.
Skiing in Powder

Being attached near the middle of the skis meant that pure, untouched powder wasn’t where these skis knocked my socks off. Instead of floating to the surface and refusing to sink, they ripped through the powder beneath it, planted to the firmer snow underneath the fluff.
Their relatively low rise but deep rocker kept them feeling nimble, pivoty, and easy in the deep stuff. My hunch is that the freestyle-oriented forward mount point kept the skis planted rather than surfing up high in the powder. The tails just didn’t give me much room to lean back and let the big shovels fly or for them to take flight in the powder on their own.
Skiing Soft, Choppy Snow
They came alive in soft, choppy snow. Every run was a playground. The SEA 108s had the maneuverable character to jump, jib, and slash through it. They felt perfectly matched to those conditions. And that’s a good thing for a place like my home mountain, Vail. Every run across 5,289 acres is tracked out to some degree by 11 a.m. on a typical powder day.
The heavily tapered tips made that choppy, messy snow much simpler to plow through than with wider-tipped skis. The tips refused to hook and deflect — they stayed the line and cut through it all with stable, poised character. Once I trusted that the moderately soft shovels wouldn’t fold, I pushed them to my limit.
They were up to the challenge like I’d expect from a pair of freeride skis. But again, they were nimble enough to throw sideways and scrub speed even while pushing them to the edge of my strength and skill. I never felt like they were in charge, as I had half-expected with those big dimensions.
The skis utilize Scott’s 3D Spin Tech Rocker in the tips and tails. They’re shaped almost like the bottom of a spoon, which was surprisingly noticeable in soft snow. Imagine slapping the surface of a tub of water with the flat palm of your hand. It smacks, and there’s some force pushing back.
Now imagine pushing into that same water with the bottom of a big serving spoon. It glides into the water, and there’s less kickback. That’s what the tips felt like in soft snow, or at least my best guess at what’s going on. They glided through soft chop without getting bucky and slappy. It complemented the rest of the SEA 108’s buttery character.
Scott SEA 108 in Hard Snow

The SEA 108s surprised me again in hard snow. Scott didn’t design them to excel here. But the agile character and big rocker kept them feeling quick and easy in hardpack crud, bumps, and everything else you find in the resort when the snow trends toward crunchy. I had to let go of my more forward, precise tendencies, but the skis rewarded me with smoother skiing on chattery snow.
“These skis slide through terrain like I’m smearing room-temperature butter over it,” I wrote to myself while testing on a hardpack day. It’s certainly not a sensation I was used to, and it’s not what everyone looks for in hard snow.
That buttery dance meant they weren’t particularly precise, nor were they demanding to ski. They flowed down chunky terrain smoothly and gracefully.
Given their smooth, stylish character, nobody should be surprised that carving groomers isn’t the SEA 108’s forte. They weren’t bursting with energetic carving charisma on hardpack.
That said, they hold an edge just fine, and the 20m turn radius (in the 192cm length) felt blissfully short for such big skis. They turned quickly on edge and could effortlessly break out of a turn with a small pivot, unlike some big, powerful freight train-like skis out there.
Who the SEA 108s Are For

I had an inordinate amount of fun aboard the 192cm Scott SEA 108’s. But this isn’t one of those skis that I could broadly recommend to everyone looking for a soft snow freeride ski. They have a little more character than that; they won’t suit every skier type.
If you want to ski like a freight train full speed ahead, there are better skis for you that aren’t quite so quick and nimble, such as the Black Crows Atris. If you’re a traditional directional carver at heart but want something floaty, the SEA 108s also won’t be a perfect match — you’ll want something with a more energetic camber like the Volkl Blaze 104 or 114. And if you’re genuinely looking for a floaty powder ski, bump up to the SEA 108’s big sister, the SEA 116.
The SEA 108 is a big mountain ski for skiers looking to smear style all over the headiest terrain their mountain has to offer — those who ski dynamically, artistically, and with a little flair. They will reward those skiers with a pair of skis that are smooth, nimble, and playful.
SEA-curious skiers who lean toward a more traditional and directional style will be pleased with the ski, too, but I wouldn’t hesitate to mount them 1-3 cm back from the recommended mount point for a slightly more traditional feel and float.
Conclusion

Scott’s new SEA 108 skis cover an exciting niche. On one hand, they’re ideally suited to intermediate and expert freeriders with a dynamic style — those that are flowy, artistic, and smooth. That group will appreciate their pivoty, slashy charm, especially in soft, choppy snow.
On the other hand, they’re easy to ski, given their moderately soft, forgiving character. They don’t demand precision or particularly strong technique like the Black Crows Atris or Volkl Blaze to have fun, flow, and surf through the resort.
So, a lot of different skiers could jump aboard the SEA 108s and have a great time. However, the progressive mount point could feel foreign to some skiers who are unaccustomed to freestyle-oriented freeride skis. It takes some getting used to.
Skiers eager to ski fast and loose in soft, choppy snow will dig the Scott SEA 108s. And as the “Ski Everywhere Anytime” acronym suggests, the SEA 108s won’t be relegated to the roof box when the snow stops falling — these skis are versatile and fun in various conditions and terrain.