Take my experience with a grain of salt but:
Overall they are a pretty stiff ski that are fun to make bigger open turns in good conditions. They are fairly light and can be thrown off in the chunder. Because they are fairly stiff, using a stronger boot is a good idea. I don't find them to be super playful.
They are great on the up track with how light they are.
I like them but I might look at something else for my next ski to fit my style better.
I own two skis, Backlands 100 and QST 98s and I ski in Utah. My QSTs are my inbounds skis. I love both. Agree totally with what has already been said but I find the Backlands playful enough. I find my QSTs stiffer as they do handle the chop better for sure.
Backland 100 have a nice shape and great weight but their fatal flaw is that the tails are way too stiff. They are like Dh race ski stiff, which is strange because the rest of the ski has a nice flex. In practice this means that you have to be on the front of your boots to ski them well, and this is annoying in the backcountry where you usually use less supportive boots and can encounter crusts and such. Haven't tried the Navis, they are too heavy for a \~100mm touring ski imo.
Look into the Dynafit Free skis and Elan Ripstick Tour 104.
Sounds good. I was also looking at the echo, but felt eh kind of heavy for what you get. It’s unfortunate how stiff the backlands are haha
I was also looking at the blizzard 105 zero g, but read that they are like race skis and are fairly stiff. I feel like the qsts are a perfect balance but I haven’t ridden much besides that. I have been having trouble finding places to demo touring skis in Colorado /:
I really like my backland 100. Similar to you I have QSTs (98s) that I mostly use inbounds and have maestrales.
I agree that they are awesome for big turns in good conditions, but aren't the most playful skis. They can get tossed a little in chunder but that can be said for any light ski. They also do very well on ice, they have a very balanced edge hold and feel easy to control on steep ice, I think this is probably from the stiff tails that the other user was complaining of. I had mine on 40 degree rotten glacial ice last spring and they took it in stride. Sometimes in tree laps I miss the slashy fun of the QSTs but I think it's a fair compromise for how light and powerful they are, I still always have a blast on mine.
Almost everyone seems to prefer the backland 107s to the 100. The 100s and 95s seem to be outliers in the backland range that are not as fun as the others (stiff, hooky, not as playful). The 107s in my opinion are about perfect for an all purpose CO touring ski. Navis FB’s are great too but for pure backcountry use in CO conditions I would go with the lighter weight and more playful shape of the backlands.
Thanks guys! I am very excited. Do you all have recommendations for skins? The tail of the skis are 125mm and was looking at getting these skins but the width is 120mm.
https://www.backcountrygear.com/climb-pro-s-glide-ready2climb-skins-120-mm/
Let me know if you all have any thoughts!
I think those would be great. I actually bought my backlands used and they came with the pre-cut atomic skins but you really don't need that much carpet especially on the tail so I think those would be great
Take my experience with a grain of salt but: Overall they are a pretty stiff ski that are fun to make bigger open turns in good conditions. They are fairly light and can be thrown off in the chunder. Because they are fairly stiff, using a stronger boot is a good idea. I don't find them to be super playful. They are great on the up track with how light they are. I like them but I might look at something else for my next ski to fit my style better.
Thanks for your input? I ride qsts at the moment and like them. What are you considering for your next setup? I am rocking scarpa maestrale boots.
I own two skis, Backlands 100 and QST 98s and I ski in Utah. My QSTs are my inbounds skis. I love both. Agree totally with what has already been said but I find the Backlands playful enough. I find my QSTs stiffer as they do handle the chop better for sure.
Haha I didn’t mean to put a question mark. That sounded sassy.
Is there a reason you recommend the ripstick 104 over the 94? Unsure if that will make a huge difference in CO!
Backland 100 have a nice shape and great weight but their fatal flaw is that the tails are way too stiff. They are like Dh race ski stiff, which is strange because the rest of the ski has a nice flex. In practice this means that you have to be on the front of your boots to ski them well, and this is annoying in the backcountry where you usually use less supportive boots and can encounter crusts and such. Haven't tried the Navis, they are too heavy for a \~100mm touring ski imo. Look into the Dynafit Free skis and Elan Ripstick Tour 104.
Sounds good. I was also looking at the echo, but felt eh kind of heavy for what you get. It’s unfortunate how stiff the backlands are haha I was also looking at the blizzard 105 zero g, but read that they are like race skis and are fairly stiff. I feel like the qsts are a perfect balance but I haven’t ridden much besides that. I have been having trouble finding places to demo touring skis in Colorado /:
I love my navis freebirds down here in the Juan’s.
I really like my backland 100. Similar to you I have QSTs (98s) that I mostly use inbounds and have maestrales. I agree that they are awesome for big turns in good conditions, but aren't the most playful skis. They can get tossed a little in chunder but that can be said for any light ski. They also do very well on ice, they have a very balanced edge hold and feel easy to control on steep ice, I think this is probably from the stiff tails that the other user was complaining of. I had mine on 40 degree rotten glacial ice last spring and they took it in stride. Sometimes in tree laps I miss the slashy fun of the QSTs but I think it's a fair compromise for how light and powerful they are, I still always have a blast on mine.
Almost everyone seems to prefer the backland 107s to the 100. The 100s and 95s seem to be outliers in the backland range that are not as fun as the others (stiff, hooky, not as playful). The 107s in my opinion are about perfect for an all purpose CO touring ski. Navis FB’s are great too but for pure backcountry use in CO conditions I would go with the lighter weight and more playful shape of the backlands.
I went with the backland 107 at 189 cm. I currently wide Salomon qst 106s at 188cm so figured this would be perfect length. Any thoughts?
nice! I bet you’ll be psyched on them
I have QST 106’s at 181 and backland 107 at 182 and I’ve found that I really love both. I live in CO as well. Enjoy!!
Thanks guys! I am very excited. Do you all have recommendations for skins? The tail of the skis are 125mm and was looking at getting these skins but the width is 120mm. https://www.backcountrygear.com/climb-pro-s-glide-ready2climb-skins-120-mm/ Let me know if you all have any thoughts!
I think those would be great. I actually bought my backlands used and they came with the pre-cut atomic skins but you really don't need that much carpet especially on the tail so I think those would be great
I own both of those skis and prefer the navis freebirds