Replying to 4FRNT STL Review - for those who care

So I finally got to ski my new STLs this weekend. Here are my thoughts on how they skied…

My Stats: 6’2”, 185 lbs. Former racer (powerful skier). Skis are 183 cm, mounted at 3 cm (halfway between freeride and center).
My History: Have been on 181 Salomon 1080s (orange ones) for a few years. I really liked the 1080s. They carved well and worked all over the mountain. I also had no durability issues. I skied the Rossi Scratch FS 181 for a couple days last year too. I did not like the Scratches. They were too soft for the way I ski, but skied fakie really well.

The STLs:
I had a PSIA level I exam this weekend (first days on snow too). It was COLD. I was pleasantly surprised by the STLs. They skied very well. I like to go fast and make big GS arcs. The 22.5 m radius was more than big enough (almost too big for some of the exam stuff) for my turn style. They are not a quick carving ski, but can be thrown around and skidded just fine. Surprisingly the skis held and edge really well, even on glare ice (northern Minnesota manmade at the end of the day). Overall the skis were stiffer than I expected which is good.

The 3 cm mounting point didn’t seem to affect turning that I could tell. The skis skied quite nice fakie too. There were no jumps or rails, so I can’t comment on how they ski the park, but I expect it will be very good.

Overall the STL is a better all mountain (carving groomed, not deep stuff) ski than I expected. To me it skied similar to my old 1080s (after 2 seasons on them). It was just a little slower (bigger radius) than the 1080s. I also passed the exam with no problems, so they wedge turn super sweet!

--rick

Now who will be first to say, “buy Armada.”