Test 2020: Line Vision 98
BEST FOR: One ski for the entire mountain, including the backcountry.
LENGTHS: 172, 179, 186
DIMENSIONS: 131/98/119
RADIUS: 18@179
SUGGESTED RETAIL: $700
Don’t judge a ski by its specs, particularly the surprising Vision 98. A 1,500-gram ski with paulownia wood and carbon in the core sounds like a touring ski we’d love in the backcountry, but hate inbounds. It only took one run to learn we were wrong. “Shockingly smooth and stable on hard and chopped-up snow,” said SC’s technical editor Ryan Stuart. “It was fun to ski all over the mountain.” Credit goes to a unique design from tip to tail and core to topsheet. Line sandwiched the paulownia and maple wood core with sheets of carbon, aramid and fibreglass. Each of the three composites resonates at a different frequency, which reduces vibration, says Line. It also calls it THC Construction, so…the rest of the specs are a little less smoky. The flex of the ski progresses smoothly from soft at the tip and tail to fairly stiff underfoot. The rocker shifts from plentiful early rise at both ends to traditional camber underfoot. And finally Line gave it a variable sidecut, tight at the tip to long at the tail. Put it all together and we found a playful ski that can lock into a carve. Slap on a Marker Guardian or Salomon Shift for a sweet slackcountry kit.
