Scott SEA 108 Evaluate | GearJunkie Examined

This was one of the best day of the season! The Sunday solar shined shiny overhead after a large storm blasted Colorado all through the day earlier than. Eighteen inches far surpassed the forecasted 7, and there have been simply 2 toes of contemporary coldsmoke powder (when you knew the place to look).

And look we did: My mates and I barreled and slashed by deep snow within the bushes, out within the open, and straight down the autumn traces, lap after lap.

Being an excellent Sunday on a crowded Colorado resort, the untouched powder began getting tracked out by 10 a.m. However curiously, my Scott SEA 108s acquired progressively extra enjoyable all through the day. I by no means thought I’d have extra enjoyable because the freshies acquired skied off. However given that almost all of my resort ski days coincide with gentle however less-than-perfect powder, the brand new freeride ski from Scott continued to make sense day after day.

The SEA 108s are new for ‘24/25 and sport shapes and widths for giant mountain gentle snow shredding. But I discovered their imposing measurement and dimensions misleading — they had been straightforward to ski and simply plain enjoyable. Nonetheless, it took me many days to pinpoint what makes these skis tick. However consider me, testing these huge mountain sticks wasn’t a chore.

In brief: New Scott SEA 108 skis aren’t the massive mountain bruisers that you simply’d anticipate from the size. With distinct consideration to weight financial savings and versatile design, Scott managed to construct a pair of skis with a playful, maneuverable character that excels in huge, imposing terrain. They arrive alive in mellower resort terrain, too.

Whereas ideally suited to gentle, uneven snow, the SEA 108 can slash by powder and butter by hardpack terrain with grace. They love to leap, drift, and drop options all around the resort, they usually’ll match properly with intermediate and skilled skiers who wish to get artistic. The catch? The progressive freestyle-oriented mount level gained’t swimsuit each skier on the mountain — particularly those that are conventional carvers.

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Scott SEA 108 Evaluate

In a variety of methods, the Scott SEA 108s have been an fascinating pair to check and try to explain. My pages of scribbled notes appear to be pointing to some pairs of skis fairly than one. There are contradictions and questions with many alternative solutions.

There are traits that don’t line up with the skis’ dimensions. And so they don’t match neatly in anybody ski class. One factor has been constant, although: I’ve had an outrageous quantity of enjoyable aboard the SEA 108s.

Construct

The SEA 108 is available in 4 sizes: 168, 176, 184, and 192cm. At 6’1” and 190 kilos, I nervously went for the 192cm size. They’re the longest skis I’ve ever stepped into over 3 a long time of snowboarding. I anticipated that my ego was in for a bruising, that they had been about to ski me as a substitute of the opposite manner round.

The SEA 108 packs in a full-length poplar core such as you’d need in a ski that blurs the road between freeride and freestyle. Fiberglass provides somewhat additional pop, and a sheet of titanal underfoot holds collectively a moist, robust bundle.

The ensuing flex was medium and balanced back and front — although barely stiffer within the tails than the nostril. They felt stiff sufficient for quick and free freeriding with out feeling like a chore to bend out and in of turns and at slower speeds.

They really feel lighter on the snow than their comparatively gentle 2,220g weight suggests, particularly within the ideas and tails. A part of that weight financial savings come from Scott’s Air Tech core, the place they primarily mill channels out of the wooden to drop the burden by about 10%. It’s just like what Volkl and Fischer do of their weight-conscious skis, which have impressed me.

I mounted Look Pivot 14 bindings 1 cm again from Scott’s prompt mount level. Their prompt mount level is a freestyle-inspired ahead mount if I’ve ever seen one, and it’s essentially the most idiosyncratic ingredient of the SEA 108’s design.

Which means a lot of tail for touchdown change and fewer shovel size than one thing extra conventional. My 16-year-old self would have been psyched for all of the backward potentialities. Freestylers take notice.

Snowboarding in Powder

Being connected close to the center of the skis meant that pure, untouched powder wasn’t the place these skis knocked my socks off. As a substitute of floating to the floor and refusing to sink, they ripped by the powder beneath it, planted to the firmer snow beneath the fluff.

Their comparatively low rise however deep rocker stored them feeling nimble, pivoty, and straightforward within the deep stuff. My hunch is that the freestyle-oriented ahead mount level stored the skis planted fairly than browsing up excessive within the powder. The tails simply didn’t give me a lot room to lean again and let the massive shovels fly or for them to take flight within the powder on their very own.

Snowboarding Smooth, Uneven Snow

They got here alive in gentle, uneven snow. Each run was a playground. The SEA 108s had the maneuverable character to leap, jib, and slash by it. They felt completely matched to these circumstances. And that’s a very good factor for a spot like my dwelling mountain, Vail. Each run throughout 5,289 acres is tracked out to a point by 11 a.m. on a typical powder day.

The closely tapered ideas made that uneven, messy snow a lot less complicated to plow by than with wider-tipped skis. The information refused to hook and deflect — they stayed the road and reduce by all of it with secure, poised character. As soon as I trusted that the reasonably gentle shovels wouldn’t fold, I pushed them to my restrict.

They had been as much as the problem like I’d anticipate from a pair of freeride skis. However once more, they had been nimble sufficient to throw sideways and scrub pace even whereas pushing them to the sting of my energy and talent. I by no means felt like they had been in cost, as I had half-expected with these huge dimensions.

The skis make the most of Scott’s 3D Spin Tech Rocker within the ideas and tails. They’re formed nearly like the underside of a spoon, which was surprisingly noticeable in gentle snow. Think about slapping the floor of a bathtub of water with the flat palm of your hand. It smacks, and there’s some pressure pushing again.

Now think about pushing into that very same water with the underside of an enormous serving spoon. It glides into the water, and there’s much less kickback. That’s what the guidelines felt like in gentle snow, or no less than my finest guess at what’s occurring. They glided by gentle chop with out getting bucky and slappy. It complemented the remainder of the SEA 108’s buttery character.

Scott SEA 108 in Onerous Snow

The SEA 108s stunned me once more in arduous snow. Scott didn’t design them to excel right here. However the agile character and large rocker stored them feeling fast and straightforward in hardpack crud, bumps, and every thing else you discover within the resort when the snow developments towards crunchy. I needed to let go of my extra ahead, exact tendencies, however the skis rewarded me with smoother snowboarding on chattery snow.

“These skis slide by terrain like I’m smearing room-temperature butter over it,” I wrote to myself whereas testing on a hardpack day. It’s actually not a sensation I used to be used to, and it’s not what everybody appears for in arduous snow.

That buttery dance meant they weren’t notably exact, nor had been they demanding to ski. They flowed down chunky terrain easily and gracefully.

Given their clean, trendy character, no person needs to be stunned that carving groomers isn’t the SEA 108’s forte. They weren’t bursting with energetic carving charisma on hardpack.

That mentioned, they maintain an edge simply positive, and the 20m flip radius (within the 192cm size) felt blissfully quick for such huge skis. They turned shortly on edge and will effortlessly get away of a flip with a small pivot, in contrast to some huge, highly effective freight train-like skis on the market.

Who the SEA 108s Are For

I had an inordinate quantity of enjoyable aboard the 192cm Scott SEA 108’s. However this isn’t a type of skis that I might broadly advocate to everybody searching for a gentle snow freeride ski. They’ve somewhat extra character than that; they gained’t swimsuit each skier sort.

If you wish to ski like a freight prepare full pace forward, there are higher skis for you that aren’t fairly so fast and nimble, such because the Black Crows Atris. If you happen to’re a conventional directional carver at coronary heart however need one thing floaty, the SEA 108s additionally gained’t be an ideal match — you’ll need one thing with a extra energetic camber just like the Volkl Blaze 104 or 114. And when you’re genuinely searching for a floaty powder ski, bump as much as the SEA 108’s huge sister, the SEA 116.

The SEA 108 is an enormous mountain ski for skiers seeking to smear type all around the headiest terrain their mountain has to supply — those that ski dynamically, artistically, and with somewhat aptitude. They may reward these skiers with a pair of skis which are clean, nimble, and playful.

SEA-curious skiers who lean towards a extra conventional and directional type will likely be happy with the ski, too, however I wouldn’t hesitate to mount them 1-3 cm again from the beneficial mount level for a barely extra conventional really feel and float.

Conclusion

Scott’s new SEA 108 skis cowl an thrilling area of interest. On one hand, they’re ideally suited to intermediate and skilled freeriders with a dynamic type — these which are flowy, creative, and clean. That group will respect their pivoty, slashy attraction, particularly in gentle, uneven snow.

However, they’re straightforward to ski, given their reasonably gentle, forgiving character. They don’t demand precision or notably robust method just like the Black Crows Atris or Volkl Blaze to have enjoyable, move, and surf by the resort.

So, a variety of completely different skiers might soar aboard the SEA 108s and have a good time. Nevertheless, the progressive mount level might really feel overseas to some skiers who’re unaccustomed to freestyle-oriented freeride skis. It takes some getting used to.

Skiers desirous to ski quick and free in gentle, uneven snow will dig the Scott SEA 108s. And because the “Ski In every single place Anytime” acronym suggests, the SEA 108s gained’t be relegated to the roof field when the snow stops falling — these skis are versatile and enjoyable in varied circumstances and terrain.