If you truly only go out on powder days, and you go back inside as soon as it starts to get tracked out, the Salomon QST Lumen 99 would be a great choice. In that case, however, you'd probably just opt for a powder-specific ski instead of an all-mountain that lacks versatility. If you know you'll be skiing on soft groomers and enjoy making quick short turns with fun rebound energy, this Salomon model does that well, too.
Performance Comparison
While great in the powder, this ski didn't give us a solid foundation on which to go as fast as we wanted on the hardpack.
Photo: Nate Greenberg
Stability at Speed
The massive rockered tip of the Lumen makes it the perfect powder hound, but this detracts from its stability. We found that the tips were constantly flapping around when we skied at speed on hard-pack or groomers, which is always a little unnerving, even if it doesn't necessarily point to real instability. However, we also found that the ski would chatter and skid out when we tried to push it in the steeps. One tester said she felt that up to a certain speed, it was OK, but at faster speeds, there were a number of uncomfortable moments where they just didn't have the edge-hold we desired.
Carving Ability
While the Lumen 99 does have a nice rebound effect at the end of the turn, thanks to a consistent flex pattern along the ski, it just doesn't have the edge-hold capabilities in harder snow to feel confident setting an edge and riding it. It seems to want to make a shorter turn than the 19-meter radius would suggest for those who appreciate quick turns. You may need to widen your stance to carve this ski properly since the tips are quite fat and can get in the way!
The Lumen made a much zippier turn shape when set on edge than we expected from a 19-meter turn radius.
Photo: Nate Greenberg
Powder Performance
This is where the Lumen 99 shines her brightest. It is incredibly floaty - you can always see the big purple spatula tips soaring out in front of you, or if it's very deep, you'll still see the waves of snow created by them. These are reassuring signs that you'll be staying on the surface. This ski loves to make a short, bouncy turn in the fluffy stuff, which many of our testers appreciated. As opposed to the typical fat-ski arc of one turn in 300 feet of powder, our lead tester tends to think you get more joy out of the snow if you're turning more often. This is also a preferable turn shape for those just building confidence in fresh snow. This ski was very maneuverable in the trees and in quite deep snow (we skied this model in up to 18 inches depth).
Bouncing their way back to the surface of deep snow is what these Salomons are best at.
Photo: Nate Greenberg
Crud Performance
Those big old spatula tip that makes the Lumen a perfect powder-eater is its downfall in this metric, constantly being deflected and tossing the rider off balance. This ski just doesn't feel stiff enough to plow through choppy snow.
Terrain Playfulness
The exhilarating rebound it offers, particularly in a short, poppy turn, makes it a relatively playful ski. It also feels pretty lightweight, and it seems very easy to get airborne. It's just that when we got back down to the snow again, we weren't convinced the ski would do as it was told. But its surprising agility, given the size and turn radius, definitely gave us a second thought.
We got a bit thrown around in the crud, but this ski's quicker turns helped us out in the bumps.
Photo: Nate Greenberg
Bumps
The Lumen 99 startled us with its abilities in the moguls as well, mostly because it looks like such a lumbering brute, but it turns with lightness and grace. Despite being 99 millimeters underfoot, and supposedly having a 19-meter turn radius, this ski is quick and responsive in the bumps. It is relatively forgiving in this terrain for the uninitiated.
Value
Sitting in the middle of our group of test skis in terms of price, we think the tag is set just about right. This ski is fun and great in powder, but we also think there are other skis out there at similar costs that offer greater versatility.
Conclusion
A playful ski that thrives in powder, the
Salomon QST Lumen 99 is a forgiving and fun option - just don't expect too much of it in other environments.
