ReadPart 1 of this reviewto see a blood and guts technical dork-fest about the SHIFT.
In this part 2 we’ll offer our impressions about the SHIFT.
I say “we” because this review shares three perspectives.
Tom is also bigger and a park and inbounds skier who occasionally tours.
Some people will approach this from the perspective of powder-snob dorks who are used to Dyna-fiddling.
Some will be the HULK- SMASH camp.
Some will want to know how SHIFT works when landing switch.
Just past the first snag the touring mode is releasable.
A decent twist at that point will pop them out.
The second click is full lock-out.
The DIN setting doesn’t affect this.
A new SHIFT’s toe mechanism is really stiff.
- The multiple moving parts on SHIFT beg for ice build up but that was never a significant concern.
I speculate that one reason for that is that there aren’t many metal on metal contact points.
There also seems to be an absence of crevices for snow to pack up and then form into ice.
For whatever reason, even spring schmoo tours didn’t result in icy build up frustration.
- SHIFT brakes are wide.
Size your brakes accordingly.
The width of the brakes meant that it was relatively easy for brakes to hit in tour mode.
It’s not a big problem in firm snow but in deep pow it does add unnecessary fiddle factor.
Did I mention I weigh in at 200lbs!?
Did a few laps on cut up snow in Spankys and ran it into a few traverses.
The bindings felt solid.
A couple 10-15 ft cornice drops onto steep variable conditions and I was sold.
I landed a 10 footer in the back seat, expecting to blow an ACL.
No pre-releases and it felt just like my alpine binders.
I stood right up and skied out of it no problem.
To me, it does it all.
Rip fast resort groomers, bang around in ice bumps and then let em run when it dumps.
No more compromising gear.
Thank you Atomic & Salomon for keeping it real in the next progression!
Tom Pietrowski
SHIFT; Salomon QST 99; boots - K2 Recon 120
I am 175lbs.
The Shift binding is something I have been keeping an eye on for a while now.
There’s the Dynafit Beast option but that had its own issues.
While the Kingpin is good it’s certainly not perfect.
QST 99 - SHIFT in the pow
Enter the Shift.
Pins for up and a normal toe for the way down.
Sounds like a perfect, solution but could it be done?
I didn’t tour on them; leaving that to Lee.
Instead I pushed them hard inbounds, using alpine boots.
When I test a new binding I often like to use a slightly lower DIN then I normally us.
This allows me to identify if and how a binding may pre-release before I start riding hard on them.
I normally ride at 12 but set the SHIFT to 10 to see how it would fare.
If I rode them at my normal 12 I honestly believe I would have no issues at all.
In the park they rode basically as well as any other binding.
Bottom line is that SHIFT destroys my old Kingpins in terms of damping and overall feel.
By mounting SHIFTs on my touring skis they truly become my “everyday” skis.
My final takeaway is this.
SHIFT brakes - tons of clearance
But they are not perfect (not yet anyway).
The SHIFT has a flat ramp angle and initially felt very toe high.
- My other issue was the AFD itself.
SHIFT uses a pivoting AFD rather then a height adjustable AFD.
This means you only have a tiny part of the AFD in contact with the boot.
I also wonder if the way the AFD pivots will be a potential durability issue.
- Finally I did not like the way you change the toe from touring to ski mode.
I pretty much only use mittens and it was not easy to convert the toe.
While it was doable it certainly wasn’t convenient.
Salomon QST 99
About the Salomon QST 99.
The dimensions paint this more as a all-around ski suited to hardpack then to powder.
And the dimensions don’t lie.
Dimensions suggested that it would be turny but undergunned in deeper pow for skier of Toby and my weight.
But the numbers lied.
Maybe it’s the magic HRZN tech; maybe its the pronounced tip rocker.
In fact Backland was alarmingly happy going sideways at high speed in sluffy pow.
The only part where the Backland was lacking was in hardpack and chopped up snow where it felt vague.
New - HRZN tech (formerly just the Bentchetler) adding surf area to the tips and more floatiness.
