2023 Scott Pure Mission 98

The 2023 Scott Pure Mission 98Ti is one of those supremely versatile sticks that you just don’t have to think too hard about. With a nice blend of high-end performance and mid-range accessibility, the Mission 98 has the beef and burl to carve clean and hard turns on groomers while remaining natural, fun, and totally friendly in the off-piste zones. From powder and trees to bumps and bowls, these things are built to handle anything the mountain can throw at you. In the 184, the Mission 98 measures 99 mm underfoot and produces a 21-meter turn radius, so it’s on the longer side of similar skis in terms of arc. This makes the intuitiveness of the ski really stand out, and much like the Dynastar M-Pro 99, the Mission 98 is a skier’s ski for sure. What you put in is what you’re getting out, and that’s a huge part of the fun and the appeal. Built with a wood core consisting of paulownia and beech, the Mission 98 also gets carbon fiber stringers that run vertically on the top and bottom of the core. The titanal laminate is a partial one—thicker underfoot and tapering to a point just outside the binding zone. This gives the ski an incredible amount of edge grip and torsional stiffness underfoot while leaving the tips and tails fairly friendly and with a lighter swing weight. The carbon still stiffens the skis quite a bit, so it’s fair to say that these skis still have that advanced and expert skier market cornered. They have fairly average rocker to them and pretty normal taper, so that adds to the versatility and well-rounded nature of the skis.

David Wolfgang was on the 184 and noted that it was “just right.” David was very much at the top of the scorecard with this ski, giving it all 4’s across the board with a lone 5 out of 5 for overall impression. This type of high baseline for scores is indicative of a very well-rounded ski that excels in a wide variety of conditions and terrain. “Wow. This is a real all-mountain ski. It bit into the hard-pack like a pit bull but cruised through the heavy corn snow like a tank. I found the ski to be light under foot, quick edge to edge and very playful and nimble. Quite a versatile all mountain ski. Wow!” Two wows from David is pretty good. I got to watch him ski under the lift on test day on the Mission 98 and it looked like he was skiing with full-confidence, and that’s a good thing for sure.

Also on the 184, Bob St.Pierre found it skied true to size and was a whole lot of fun. He scored the Mission 98 top marks of 5 out of 5 for versatility, playfulness, quickness, maneuverability, and overall impression. 3’s for stability, torsional stiffness, edge hold, and flotation rounded out his card. “I got to ski this on a snowy day mid-winter, so had a different experience than some of the testers who skied it in late March. In that 6-8 inches of snow that we had, the Mission 98 performed quite admirably. I took it down one of my favorite top to bottom runs here on Mt. Mansfield, with a blend of on and off-trail paths as well as some good woods. The skis were quick, agile, and totally intuitive. The more directional shape floats fine, but isn’t as surfy as some other skis in this range. Great grip underfoot and light swing weight is a nice combination for an all-mountain ski because you can use it in a variety of formats—you can charge hard and push into the ski, as well as lay back a bit and let the ski do its thing without it being abusive or too rugged. For a lot of skiers looking for that ~100mm underfoot all-mountain ski that doesn’t weigh a ton but skis great, the Scott Pure Mission 98Ti is an amazing choice.”

We’re big fans of these skis, and others in this category. You can use them as your one and only stick, or it can be part of a versatile quiver. If it’s your only ski, you’ll be rewarded with endless options as to how and where you make your mark on the mountain.