Salomon Shogun Review

I haven't really seen many reviews on this ski, and i'm sitting at home resting, so figured i'd throw a review up after getting a bit of time on it yesterday.

Specs:
5’11”
165lbs
Mountain: Treble Cone, Wanaka, New Zealand
Other similar skis I like: Volkl Gotama, ON3P Wrenegade, Volkl Mantra, Line Prophet
Similar skis I didn’t really like(but didn’t hate): K2 Obsethed (too soft and sluggish IMO)
Conditions: Variable snow, lots of bumps, groomers, hardpack, and chalky snow (a.k.a the conditions are pretty shitty right now)

Salomon Shogun (182cm w/ STH14’s)
This ski is unchanged from 09/10, even the graphics are the same.

I have been wanting to get on these skis for quite some time. It looks like a great stiffer alternative to skis like K2s Obsethed. The shogun is a basalt and bamboo cap construction ski. Ever since I bought my ON3P Wrenegades I have been a big fan of bamboo, but with the basalt I wasn’t too sure.

It’s a pretty light ski, lighter than most other similar skis I have been on. Semi twin, and definitely more of a forwards orientated ski than backwards. 101mm underfoot, so a good size as an everyday ski IMO(I have only ever skied NZ, and western USA/Canada, so have no idea what’s good on the east)

Groomers: Held an edge very well on the groomers I skied (which wasn’t that many). The (subtle) tip rocker wasn’t really noticeable when skiing and in no way took away from performance on groomed. It was very quick edge to edge and didn’t feel like a 101mm ski, definitely a bit quicker than the Gotama. I could make nice long arcing carve turns pretty easily as well as being able to make short snappy ones. It’s got a nice medium-stiff flex throughout the ski and makes it nice and stable at speed, but it’s still very easy to ski. I think the flex was about perfect for what it was designed for. Very versatile all over.

Bumps: It’s a light ski, and quick to move around, so I found it pretty easy to navigate them through the bumps. Performance here was as good as I would need given performance elsewhere.I wouldn’t exactly go looking for them with the Shogun, but if I happen to find some I was confident the shoguns could handle it. Again, better at this than most similar sized skis. It’s not designed for bumps, but for what you gain elsewhere it’s a good trade off.

Crud/Variable snow: The stiffer flex gives you plenty of stability and support in the crud. You can drive the ski without overpowering it, which I had happen with some other skis. The ski doesn’t get knocked around like the K2 Obsethed does for example. Different feel to something like the mantra for sure, it’s a lot more snappy and lively rather than damp like the mantra, which I really enjoyed. However at speed it was solid and busted through everything I encountered.

Ice: Not great on ice. They would probably be better if they were tuned properly. I didn’t really get to test them much here. Not something I really enjoy to ski, and would go and look for (duh!)

Overall: I was pretty impressed. Probably the first Salomon ski I have been on in a long time which I liked-looks like the are actually listening to their athletes now, and it shows. I think it would be an awesome 1 ski quiver. Decent on groomed, bumps, and crud as well as being fat enough to work well enough in the pow. The small tip rocker would also help here. I'd quite like to try this ski again in better conditions. We really need it to snow right now.

10/11 Volkl Gotama Review

After spending a lot of time on these in the past few days I thought I would write a few things on them.

I recently injured my meniscus, so have been told by my physio that I am allowed to ski if I take it easy. At least I can still ski though. Anyway, I normally ski on 191 ON3P Wrenegades, and found those were a bit much for my knee so I went and got some 178 Gotama demos for the day (As well as the 186 for a bit).

Stats:
5'11"
165lbs
21 years old
Mountain: Treble Cone, Wanaka, New Zealand

Same ski as last year. Zero camber, long, low, gradual rocker throughout most of the ski.

Groomers: I thought groomer performance was very good. I actually prefered them on groomed runs than the mantra. Easy turn initiation, as well as having the ability to hold an edge. They are no slalom ski, but performance here was as good as I would ever need. I also found it super easy to smear a turn and release the tails quickly and smoothly. This is the first time I have been on such a small ski of this type in a long time, and none of the unstable, wobby feelings which i generally associate with short skis were present. Nice and stable at speed.

Bumps: Pretty decent in the bumps. It hasn't snowed here in a while so there is a lot of small/medium bumps around. The snow is pretty chalky too. They have lots of pop and are really responsive. I found the skis bounced me out of turns nicely.

Crud: Not as good as the Wrenegades, but still pretty good. The tips don't seem to get knocked around very much and you can generally blow through most variable snow I managed to find. You can drive the ski pretty hard and not have any issues.

Ice: Not ideal but manageable, but how many rockered skis are? Keep in mind these were demos so they were not that well tuned.

I know a lot of people hated volkl for changing the gotama to a rockered ski, but to be honest, i found them better in all conditions to the older cambered models. I don't really care for those stupid low profile tips, as considering the low rocker height I could see tip dive issues in deeper snow- but I never got to ski any to test that theory.

They are definitely a fair amount softer than 191 Wrenegades, but that translates to easier to ski, which was good today both because of the conditions and my knee.

The 186 was the same sort of feel, but just a bit more stable and better when you can open it up (which you can't in the conditions currently)