2023 Salomon QST Lux 92

New for 2023, the Salomon QST Lux 92 carries the name forward but tweaks the shape, profile, and construction in order to increase the range, fun levels, and overall versatility of the ski. At 92 mm underfoot, the Lux is the narrowest of the women’s QST skis, and as a result is the most front-side oriented, but still falls quite squarely into the all-mountain category. It’s got some crisp and clear edge control to go along with a shorter turn radius to make it an amazing turner. You can certainly use this ski exclusively in an on-trail format at a high level, as the ski is a fantastic option for advanced skiers, but can certainly blend into the expert or intermediate range. The span of ranges for the skier ability is what makes the Lux 92 stand out among its competitors. The ease of use combined with the top-end of the ski are quite impressive, and that’s what draws a lot of skiers in, and keeps them there,

Abby Maurice skied the 168 and while she noted it “felt right,” she also stated that she’d “be curious trying a shorter ski but the lighter weight was easy to maneuver.” Resultingly, Abby scored the ski top marks of 5’s out of 5 for versatility, playfulness, quickness, maneuverability, stability, and flotation. 4’s dotted the rest of her card for overall impression, torsional stiffness, edge hold, and forgiveness. This high baseline of scores is great to see, and right in line with what Salmon’s putting out there in their own catalog, and we’re always impressed when that happens. Abby “Loved this ski! It rides young and bold while simultaneously being wise and relaxed. It's playful and forgiving with reliable stability and edge hold. The light weight and flexibility makes it maneuverable in many conditions and definitely choice as your all mountain ski. Popping into glades and charging groomers would be a breeze. I'd prefer these skis in powder or a smeary, sunny day.” Even at 92, and the narrowest in the QST line, these things operate better in softer snow, in Abby’s experience. Also on the 168, Allarie Sullivan wonders “who brought the rockets, boys?” Her top scores of 5’s out of 5 for overall impression and stability punctuate her experience that these are some hard-charging rippers that love to carve.

It seems that Ann MacDonald couldn’t quite get in the sizing zone on these skis, with the 168 being “a little short” and the 176 being “a hair long.” Even though they are built the same as the men’s QST 92, Ann felt the length a little bit on the 176: “Got on the Mens by accident… sorry! It actually was fun if I stayed on top of them, but got kicked back easily if not! Not very forgiving for me but I think they need more weight or strength on them to bend them! Gonna try the girls now… 👍🏼.” On the Lux 92 in the 168, Ann states that these are “Good playful skis for gals that like to make lots of quick turns so would be fun in the bumps. Wasn’t too stable on big GS type turns. Got some decent rocker on the tip so handled the soft snow fairly well. Very forgiving. Good ski for intermediate ladies!” Her overall impression score of 4 out of 5 for the 168 was just a bit higher than the 3 out of 5 she gave for the 176. Always interesting to see the same skier get on both lengths of a given product.

Diane Sullivan felt her 168 was true to size, and while she skied it in some challenging conditions, she still gave it above-average scores of 4 out of 5 for flotation, quickness, maneuverability, and playfulness. All other scores were 3’s so it shows that we’re still in the versatile zone for ski feedback. Diane noted that she “only had choppy corn snow to test this ski in and it struggled. It is very lightweight and bounced around a lot, even on edge at slower speeds it was not a smooth ride. That said it was pretty responsive and seemed to have a good amount of float. In untracked snow or packed powder, I think it would do well as an off-piste ski. Probably a decent choice for intermediate skiers or slower paced advanced skiers who don’t plan to do much skiing on icy or choppy snow.” And that’s the fun part of our test—some skiers find that the QST Lux 92 is a total beast out there no matter what, and others find it to have some deflection when the going gets rugged.