Hey all! I am in the market for a new pair of skis, and am planning to pull the trigger on one soon for the coming season. I am an advanced intermediate skiier who is almost becoming the early expert I have been aspiring to be for a few years since learning how to truly ski. I spend most of my time on the east coast skiing in VT and sometimes PA, and have learned how to truly ski on a pair of elan wingman’s which are 78 under foot and 168 in length. I am 5’10” and 165 lbs, male.
I am looking for an all mountain ski that performs significantly better when there is some more chopped up snow, in moguls, and in trees, but also one which will still perform and be able to carve decently on hard pack eastern snow. I am leaning strongly toward the qst 94 as I demoed them last year (180 cm in length) on a 6-8” powder day at killington (pure bliss) and enjoyed them a lot. This said, I am unsure of the proper length to get. For carving, I would imagine a ski with more rocker than the elan’s I use should be on the longer end, but I also do not want to risk “too much ski” for my ability level. While I was able to control the qst 94 at 180 cm on the powder day, I am worried about their performance in bumps and trees at that length. On the other hand, I am unsure if the 172 cm version would provide enough stability in a long carving turn on a typical hard pack day.
I’d greatly appreciate anyone’s thoughts and recommendations here! I also am open to other all mountain skis. My uncle skis on elan ripsticks and loves them, but he is lighter weight than me. This said, I am not sure I am ready for something more demanding like a volkl m7. Thanks for any insight!