Salomon Crossmax 10/912TI Review

Overall Rating

Easy to handle with good response, as an intermediate skier
very good stability in a straight line.

Heavy

I don't ski often enough to bother carting my own skis around these days, so I've tried quite a few on hire in the last 10 years. I'm an intermediate in skills but ski quite aggressively. I was very disillusioned with most of the new generation intermediate skis (or at least the ones hire shops offer) until I used Salomon CrossMax this year. I now realise that this is because the waisting ratios have got more and more marked, with a view to flattering you into thinking your turning skills are better than perhaps they really are. The downside with this is that it's almost impossible to ski straight on the flat or anywhere near the fall line wihtout the skis trying to go one way or the other. highly waisted skis simply hate aren't designed to go in straight lines. Crossmax are the first ski I've tried that seems to manage a reasonable compromise: easy enough for a decent intermediate in differing on-piste conditions but can get up good speed in a schuss wihtout the skis jiggling from side to side continuously. The only big drawback is their weight but all that means is that they weigh as much as all skis used to 10 years ago! Worth putting up with. Can'y comment on off-piste characteristics.