Review: 2027 Salomon QST X

Back again for another year, Salomon’s QST X is a shockingly nimble, floaty, and fun powder freeride ski that breaks the mold of what a typical “athlete” ski might make you think of. With a very surfy shape, 116mm waist, and a very damp ride, it’s an excellent choice for deep days where cliff hucks, pillows, and maching through tight trees are on the menu. Now in its third year running, the ski receives a cosmetic update (animal print bases!), but construction and performance remain identical.

For the past few seasons and product cycles, Salomon has stuck to marching to the beat of their own drum, producing skis that largely eschew timely trends with some out-of-the-box thinking. When everyone else was going all-in on light backcountry skis, the French brand dropped the QST Echo, a relatively heavy and super-damp touring shred machine. We’ve also seen two iterations of the QST Blank, a heavy-duty freeride ski that was accessible to everyone from FWT pros to your average Joe. 

At first glance, the QST X might look like a QST Blank on a diet, much like how the Echo is a light version of the QST 106. I quickly learned, however, that it was something completely new. Where the existing QST Blank, thanks to the cork “damplifier” in the core, was meant for high-speed skiing through everything from deep backcountry pow to chopped up resort crud, the new QST X is really meant for foot-powered access to the goods, and is actually a much better pure powder ski. It’s a 116 mm-underfoot freeride powder machine, with enough heft to charge on but not enough to feel too heavy to tour all day on.

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2027 Salomon S/LAB QST X Specs

• Size skied: 184cm
• Lengths available: 172cm, 184cm, 192cm
• Sidecut: 140cm – 116cm – 127cm
• Radius: 25m
• Profile: freestyle twin rocker, with camber underfoot
• Weight: 1900g

Shape, Flex, and Construction

I’ve mostly skied the QST X in the 184 length, and given the very pronounced tip and tail rocker, it actually feels pretty short. That was not a bad thing—these are so nimble and slashy, yet somehow SO stable thanks to the stiff tails that the shorter size didn’t really bother me. Inside, they share similar construction to both Salomon’s QST Blank and the lighter touring-oriented QST 106 Echo. There’s liberal application of cork to dampen the tips and tails, a karuba/poplar wood core, and no metal laminate, with Salomon utilizing flax fibers and carbon stringers for stiffness and damping.

I did hop aboard the 192 length at our test in Grand Targhee this year, which felt much less nimble, but still fun. Perhaps it’s an appropriate ski for certain conditions but sizing up on this ski kind of defeats the purpose in my opinion.

Recommended mount point is fairly centered, and after messing around with some different positions, I still stand by +1.5cm from rec as my favorite–this really helps take advantage of the playful nature of the ski without feeling like you’re too over the nose.

At 1900g for the 184 cm ski, it’s no featherweight, but it’s light enough in my book to warrant taking out on a long day. The long turn radius means plenty of edge contact despite the pronounced rocker lines, making skinning pretty comfortable for a fat ski. I’ve skied these with a pair with Salomon’s new SHIFT 2 binding, pin bindings, and traditional resort bindings, all three of which are great choices. With the lightweight pin binding, this is a sick setup for big foot-powered missions in places like Roger’s Pass, Revelstoke, or even in the Tahoe backcountry.

On-Snow Performance

I’ve skied these close to 100 days since they first came out and here’s what I learned: the QST X is the ski I’d want for human-powered hero pow skiing. The very pronounced rocker profile, long (25m) turning radius, and relatively soft flex remind me of skis like the 4FRNT Renegade, or even the old QST 118, both some of my all-time favorite soft-snow skis.

The QST X’s versatility is astounding, but I found it excels in catering to playful skiers looking to ski fast through technical terrain. Think subalpine pillows, trees, and chutes: the kind of terrain most of us actually spend the winter riding in the backcountry. It can still charge and straightline stuff, but it’s way more fun to throw sideways, slash and smear down the steeps.

It’s not as much of a high speed charger as the QST Blank, and definitely gets more tossed around skiing chopped up resort snow, but it’s still super fun. In other words, I wouldn’t use this purely as an inbounds ski. It’s also a bit big for high-alpine missions, but I could see it being a great choice if conditions line up (read: stable deep snow) to ski a couloir or even technical freeride terrain on a high peak.

“The sweet spot on this ski falls somewhere between ‘it’s got autopilot’ and ‘it requires good technique.’ I think a bad skier would find this thing easy to ski. But I think strong skiers have to be a little intentional about using the tail, effective edge. That said, I loved it, and many good skiers love it,” says tester Jack Beighle.

Comparisons

Salomon’s QST X is a tough ski to compare, thanks to its very unique shape and construction. There’s little on the market today that offers this type of extremely quiet, yet extremely loose and nimble ride. Blizzard’s new Canvas 118 comes close in shape and weight–but it trades some of the loose, surfy feel for more locked-in performance, especially on firmer snow.

Instead, the QST X is much more similar to skis of yesteryear, like the super-floppy K2 Hellbent, the old Salomon Rocker 2 122, or even the OG Line Elizabeth/Sir Francis Bacon.

What Type Of Skier Is The Salomon QST X Best For?

Think about this way: there are two types of perfect days for riding the QST X. The first involves going on a long walk to ski a technical big-mountain line at high speed in deep pow. It’s the kind of day you’d find on a Canadian hut trip or touring in the Tetons. The stability and confidence inspiring nature of the ski lends itself perfectly to that, and the lighter weight means it won’t bog you down on the skintrack.

The other is just smashing laps on mini-golf terrain inbounds or out the resort gates with the homies–it’s so playful and fun, and makes skiing deep pow really easy. Go fast, go slow, go big, and don’t bother going home—you’ll want to stay out ALL day.