Salomon Czar Ski

I tried them as a demo several times this year at Jay Peak. The ski inspired confidence in powder and allowed turns of all sizes with ease. I was able to experience powder skiing at Jay like never before. Smearing and all other powder type manouveres happened naturally where other wide wasted skis required more experience that I did not have and work to accomplish. The ski has a fairly durable base as I ran over several rocks and stumps that left only light surface scratches. A great beginner to intermediate powder ski IMO. As for an expert powder ski I cannot comment since I am not an expert powder skier. I have not skied enough days in powder to be anything more than a strong intermediate but with the Czar in powder I am a grinning strong intermediate that looks almost like an expert. My thumbs up on a recommended ski for east coast powder days. If I add a powder ski to my quiver it will be this ski.

 I tried the Czar on a spring-ish powder day.  They didn't want to go fast AT ALL.  They were way more comfortable in slow controlled turns, and wow were they comfortable making a lot of turns.  You can ski them aggressively as hell, so long as that means aggressively carving a lot of turns.  

 

I felt they were very engaging in the end of the turn... forcing you to make a complete, controlled turn.

 

I would not reccommend if you like to make McConkey (RIP) turns.  Obsethed is where its at for that style.

 I have the 09 czars in 182, with Marker Dukes mounted .5 cm back from center. Initially i had problems with these skis as i was trying to ski them like a GS ski. With a turning radius of around 45m they definitely can fight you on the groomers if you're trying to turn the ski too far across the fall line. Then i found out that i could initiate turns with almost no effort just by gently tilting the skis from edge to edge... but enough for the hardpack side of things ( which i always use my Mantra 09's for anyways...)

In soft snow, this ski is a total dream. It's a bouncy lively ride that makes you want to pop off of everything. The rocker and 111mm under foot combine for an effortless, surfy pow experience with literally zero fear of submarining. This means you can stay in a forward charging stance in ALL conditions, and dump speed instantly for those sketchy moments in the trees. Unreal, if you ask me... crud feels like cream on these boards and they are super damp at high speeds,not to mention they eat big landings like a fat kid on cake. If there's a reason why everyone is making rockered skis for their all -mountain lines this year, it might be because the czar truly is that big bad nimble stomp-happy twin-tip you've been waiting for. 

Hi All:
   I first tried these on a demo day on some work time off and just had to have them. They are simple fabulous, and now are my work ski of choice. In pow they are simply exceptional!!!
   If I was to get picky carve turns on very steep hardpack is tougher but doing groomers and the usual blacks/double blacks with bumps come and go just like on my skinny stiff Atomics. Highly recommended