Salomon Sentinel 2011

Just bought the 184cm Sentinel as a forward looking replacement to my Scream 10 Xtra Hot Pilot and one step down from my pure powder board, the old Atomic Fat Boy.  Salomon did it right.  This is what I have been waiting for as my cross between deep powder days and my race skis for carving days.  This ski skied the powder at Stevens last week way better than the narrower Scream and the rocker tip makes me think I could use these for all but the foot plus days.  ending the day on the hard pack these things carved nearly as well as the Scream with actually a tighter turn radius.  I think I have found my daily driver for the next five years

I skied multiple skis in the performance all mountain category in Aspen this winter (Volkl Kendo, Salomon 2020, Kastle and Salomon Sentinel). Terrain was back country crud, powder, groomer GS, and bumps. Found the Sentinel to be best of the bunch for all round. Felt lighter and more responsive than Volkl and Kastle with only small trade off on power cruise GS turns. Width underfoot felt fine on moguls and quick turns. Good multi-purpose ski.

This is a fantastic ski in every sense. It is an all-rounder which excels in certain conditions rather than a compromise which does ok in most places then lets you down badly in one or two.

I skied the 191 all round Chamonix in January, in conditions from bullet-proof black piste, through some decent bump lines to fresh turns in boot-deep powder, and it always handles itself with aplomb.

It isn’t at it’s best on ice and you have to be concentrating to keep the edge holding but it will hold up to a point before it gently slip-slides and it certainly never chatters or breaks loose; it just doesn’t flex and grip like a race ski would.

On good snow it is very versatile on the piste, rebounding pretty well in short swings, quick from edge to edge and very stable at speed. It inspired confidence and variation in the skier, allowing you to make the most of the terrain. The faster you go the better it is.

Surprisingly it went through bumps pretty well; again, it clearly ins’t designed to do it but it doesn’t flinch and allows you to push it through. It just doesn’t leave much room for error.

In good off-piste conditions it is sublime; perfectly weighted and very well-behaved. But where it really comes into its own is in poor off-piste snow: chop, wind-pack, crust, softer slush it just eats for breakfast making you feel confident and look good where many other skis would twist, protest and threaten to derail you or throw you over the handlebars. It is nimble when you want it to be and stable at speed.

I’ve always loved the right ski for the right discipline but my days of carting four different pairs around are over and this is one ski that can do it all. if you’re happy on piste but what you’re really looking for is fresh turns wherever you can find them, this ski will excel when your find your nirvana as well as keep you more than happy during the search.

Post script: I had not considered buying a Salomon ski for several years now, preferring to stick with Dynastar or Atomic; initially because I broke early monocoque constructions easily (Force 9 through to X Scream) and then more recently because their all-mountain skis have been too specific. This is the first that is a true all-rounder, which is what I was looking for, that seems to be really solid and well-made: bamboo and titanium core, sandwich construction with edge armour etc. Not only does it performs brilliantly but also it should last for years. I’ve paired it with STH 16 STEEL bindings and I think I’m going to be seeing a lot of these skis around. It should become a real winner for the brand.

Thanks for the excellent write-up Oliver. I am just curious what you weight and what your height is? I am considering the Sentinel and have the usual - what height should I demo questions.

Hi David. I’m 6’1” and 14 to 14.5 stone. I would say my style is aggressive although I’m trying to quieten it down. To be honest, I think I’d be fine on the shorter 184s but being 36 now, I grew up skiing quite happily on 205 skis, so these at 191 are about the shortest skis I’ve ever owned. I bet I wouldn’t notice much of a difference on the shorter versions especially as factory guidelines dictate that the boot is quite far back on the ski. I compared it to friends on K2 Completely Obsethed and Volkly Mantras and my boot was the farthest back; good off piste but harder work on. If you’re wavering, go shorter. The ski is strong and I’m pretty sure it won’t be less stable for being shorter.

To second Oliver’s review and to add a bit: I am 6’2” and weigh about 225.  I am used to long skis but bought 184 Sentinals.  While I did not do a side by side comparison between that size and the 191s, the 184 performed just as Oliver describes…I don’t think there is any downside performance tradeoff in going shorter and there are the benefits of maneuverability and weight saving.  If you want a great ski for deep virgin powder, chopped up pow, frontside hardpack, these skis are really quite remarkable…I didn’t think a single ski could do all of the mountain (Vail bowls in Mid January 2011: lots ‘o fresh snow daily).

Skier Height:5’10” Skier Weight:175 Skier Ability:Advanced Ski length Tested:177

Ski Review:  Spent the last four days Demoing skis on vaction in Jackson hole, and the sentinel was the top of the heep of the all mountains that I tried.  I demo the 177 and it performed great but when I go to buy will be looking at picking up the 184.  The ski ate up 18” of fresh powder, chopped up powder, tree runs, it carved great turns on fresh groomed and handled bumps well.  I would recommend this ski to anyone that likes to ski the entire mountain in any condition

Skier Height: 5’10” Skier Weight:160 lb. Skier Ability: Advanced/expert CSIA L2 Instructor Ski length Tested:170

Ski Review: I bought these without demoing.. to take to Utah in Feb. for 10 days at Snowbird/Alta etc. I was a little worried that they would be “too much” for me, as I had read that they were intended for big st"rong skiers”...and I am neither big nor particuarly strong. According to the Salomon size chart the 170 was the length for me.. and they were right. They handle like race carvers on the groomed, and eat up everything else with aplomb. They inspire confidence.. seemingly exceptionally stable- and are the best All Moutian ski I have ever had. (I also have pair of Salomon Furies)..  but these are stronger and handle the steep hard pack better and are much better in the heavy crud and bumps… blasting through or over all conditions. I highly recommend them. I think that Salomon has the sizes right on their sizing chart…if you are smaller or lighter like me, do not be afraid of these skis, just go for the 170. I ran over a few rocks and stumps… while we were there,  and it felt like there would be huge gouges in the bases, but instead they are virtually unmarked. I also glided by everyone else on the ski outs, cat tracks and flats.. the bases are fast as well as tough. JUst got e Salomon Z12 binding on the stock location. NO Troubles Mate. Best skis I have ever owned.

Skier Height:6’2” Skier Weight:225 Skier Ability:  expert Ski length Tested:  191cm

Ski Review:

Great ski but durability is horrible.  I am celebrating my 40th season skiing Vail and Beaver Creek.  I have had Salomon skis since the 1S, 2S, and 3S.  I enjoyed (but destroyed 3pairs) of the XScream.  I have the Super Mountains, the pocket rockets, the powder blue pocket rockets and the guns.  Obviously my choice is Salomon.

I couldn’t wait for Salomon to make a ski over 185cm.  At my weight and height the design was perfect but the length was short for me.  2011 I decided to upgrade.  Trying to decide between the Shogun or the Sentinel.  I went with the off piste big guy master the Sentinel.  I only have 38 days logged. I have only skied Vail or Beaver Creek .  Bought the Sentinel on Jan 4th.  Sports Authority gave me a new pair on Feb 7th. Only 15 days skiing on them and one ski split in two. Today is April 3rd.  Only skied 15 days since the warranty.  One of the ski is splitting again.  This time the edge and base are coming unglued I guess.  Well Salomon and Sports Authority refuse to replace the skis.  I have 6 pairs over 15 years that I have never had a problem with.  So beware, Sentinel construction is weak, durability is bad.  2 sets in 30 days and out $650.

Way the Sentinel skied was awesome just short lived like a dream

Skier Height:5’8’‘ Skier Weight:145lb Skier Ability:>9 Ski length Tested:170

Ski Review: Ski Review by Faripour Forouhar March 2011

I am 5’8’’, 145lb, level 9 and higher, moderately aggressive skier. Spend 65% of my time off piste (back side) and 35% on piste (front side) on the groomers and bumps.  My present skis are Volkl Mantra (177, 4 yrs old 130/94/116) mostly for west and Blizzard Magnum 8.7 (174, 128/87/113) for east coast skiing. I also use racing slalom and GS skies (volkl) and Rossi bump skis, on occasion. Last week I demoed three pair of skis in Snow Mass. Co., Volkl Kendo (170cm, 127/88/109mm; R19.9), Salomon Sentinel (170cm- 129, 95,121mm) and KastleMX 88, 168cm length (128,88,113mm; R17.5m). I skied each pair for approximately 2 hours and did exactly the same thing with all three: starting with groomers, then wind packed crud, then frozen chunky crud, then steep densely packed large bumps with zipper lines of descend and then super steep EX-EX tree runs off Sheer Bliss lift to the right. Below is the results of my experience: Salomon Sentinel 170 cm (129,95,121mm; R17.8m): They are really up to something with rockers. These skis are slightly rockered in the shovel area and have flat squared conventional tail. The immediate feeling was as though I had a block of wet soap under my feet. They felt very slipper. Very very easy to skid/smear it around in any direction at any moment. I had heard that rockers don’t catch edges, it is true! I couldn’t make the edges catch regardless of how or in what direction I projected my core, at any part of the turn. To me this makes them very forgiving of technical mistakes – something that skis like Mantra, Kendo, Kastle and Blizz won’t forgive. They were superb in bumps: very suitable flex; they felt somewhat like my Rossignol bump skis in their flex pattern but much slower edge to edge - more like Mantra (with comparable width). In bumps, they felt slightly heavier (95 under the foot rather than 88) and slower edge to edge compared to Kendo but lighter and more flexible compared to Kastle. In crud, they have a surfy feeling and are forgiving (no catching edges in wind packed crud!) as opposed to “cutting like a knife” feeling of Kendo, Mantra or Blizz. which I am used to and enjoy. I am sure they would be superior to all the above in deep pow and trees especially if the space between them were filled with cut up snow and irregular bumps which in the west, they often are. On the groomers they function with ease with a bit of slipper feeling, even on what I would call packed powder in Snow Mass let aside the icy conditions of the East. For reasons not clear to me I felt they worked better for me, if I kept my skis closer to each other and weighed the skis more evenly. Any turn radius was fine and you did not seem to need to load the shovels much to start the turn because they would slip into the turn with slightest persuasion, perhaps too easily to the point that you may have to adjust back. In short, these skis slip and slide, forgive your technical mistakes and off balance moves and get you where you want, safely. However, they are not precision tools like Kendo. You got to try them!

For comparison with Volkl Kendo, Kaslte MX88 and Dynastar Sultan 94 see the general and comprehensive document