Salomon Shogun 100 Review
The Salmon Shogun 100 is yet another ski that is located in the burgeoning “‘mid-fat, all-mountain, one-quiver ski” market. Despite its name, not one of the models actually has an underfoot width of 100mm, but at 97, 99, 101 and 103mm across the range, it’s near enough for us not to quibble…The Shogun features a 350mm rockered tip for float in the powder, together with a conventional camber underfoot. Interestingly, and unlike a lot of other current all-mountain skis (for example, the Blizzard Bonafide and the Rossignol Experience 98) this regular camber continues into the tail. This means that the Shogun has a little more grip on the hardpack, though at the expense of some deep snow manoeuvrability. The Shogun has a full wood core with a bamboo layer, and a relatively wide turn radius of 25.9m in the 182cm length. It also features a semi twin tip, although this is probably not a ski that is going to spend a lot of time in the park.
On the snow, the Shogun strikes a good balance – the width and rockered tip give it buoyancy in powder and allow it to ride out mixed conditions, while the regular cambered tail makes this a stronger on-piste performer than others in the 100mm club. Overall, this makes it a very versatile ski, and a genuine “one quiver” option.
Any downsides? Well, nothing in particular, though it is worth carefully considering what you are going to spend most of your time skiing – there are slightly narrower skis with bigger sidecuts that will outperform the Shogun on piste, while not loosing too much to it in the pow. That said, if your focus is mainly off piste but you don’t want to haul a separate pair of skis for when the conditions aren’t right (and let’s face it, most of us are in that position…) the Shogun is a very appealing option.
Advantages:
- Width and rockered tip give it great ability in the soft snow
- Regular camber tail keeps it pretty grippy on the hardpack
Disadvantages:
- Nothing really, but lots of other strong contenders in this category