Does anyone know anything about Salomon Sandstorm?

[tseeb]

A local shop has new, but two year old Salomon Sandstorms at a great price. Has anyone skied them? Do you think they would be OK on groomers and good for powder. They are 99 mm waist. They have one pair of 180 cm with 20.4 m turn radius and three pairs of 173 with 18.4 m turn radius. Should I be grabbing the 180s before they are gone or would the 173s give enough float and turn better in the trees? I'm almost 6 feet and a little under 200 lbs without ski boots. I am currently skiing 177 Volkyl 724s that have a 74 mm waist and are pretty good in under a foot of new snow for getting close to the trees for untracked turns.

[Staley]

At 200lbs I don't really see how you'll float on a ski with a 99mm waist. I'd aim for something at least a 110mm waist if you're looking for a powder ski. Also, 180 is too short for you as a powder ski. You'll want something rockered and probably in the high 180s.

[Admin]

I'm with Staley on this one, especially on the length.

[tseeb]

Thanks for the input. With buying new boots already this year, I need to keep my spending on skis down and think these for $350 mounted is a good deal. While they may not be optimal for really deep snow, I think they'll work better than what I'm on and could also be good in the spring. Since these are not availaible in 187s, I'm leaning towards the 180s. Following are specs on the different lengths:

Salomon XWing Sandstorm 2008 Technical Specifications

Length Size Radius
173 130-96-124 18.6
180 135-99-125 20.4
187 135-101-126 22.2

[Tony Crocker]

IMHO the length is reasonable if there's not much rocker. If there's a lot of rocker they are too short. I agree it's more likely an "all mountain ski" more than a powder ski, thus probably not that much rocker. They should be serviceable in powder at 99mm, considering that state of the art powder skis were narrower than that less than a decade ago. Probably worth it considering the good price.

[Staley]

If you want new skis, that seems about as cheap as you'll get. Nevertheless, you can find used powder skis with bindings in good shape for less than $350, and it'll surely be a better ski than the Sandstorm. The Sandstorm has a foam core as well, so despite being new, it won't hold up as well as a quality used ski.

[tseeb]

I took a look on local craigslist and on Ebay and didn't find anything that looked better, but may have to try again. I also have a $200 gift certificate from my retirement lunch for the place with $350 Sandstorms so they would be under $200 out of pocket.

[Staley]

I just picked up Praxis Pows with just one mount for nearly brand new Salomon STH 12's for under $300. Check out the forums at tetongravity.com