IMHO, @Cyrus Schenck finally got the Endurance right. I stress, in my opinion, because I thought the first two generations had just too much -- too much taper and too much rocker in the tips and tails, and too much stiffness underfoot. It was not a great sum of its design parts. Recipes are there for a reason, and balance is key. I wanted to like the earlier Endurances but they just didn't work for me. Enter the new ski. It is amazing how much Cyrus has matured in his young ski-building career. The new Endurance 98 skis like a premium ski, all over the mountain, no matter where you point it. With the HDT, it handles firm snow, soft snow, and crud as you would expect a 98mm ski to do. It is balanced in its taper, rocker, and flex.
The Citadel and the Endurance share similar winning shapes, and like I said earlier, this is the ski that Cyrus wanted to build from the start but couldn’t for various reasons. Which is good, because had he built this with, say, the earlier Endurance shape, it would not have succeeded and could have even hurt the brand. Like the Endurance, the Citadel is a mature shape and a winning one at that. What separates the Citadel from the Endurance is weight. You can feel the carbon-framed lightness of the 106; it pairs well with the HDT. There is an off-piste bias with the Citadel, but it does not lose its composure when brought back to the groomers; it handles as well as you could expect a One Oh Something to perform.
- Why choose the Endurance 98 V3.0? You want on-piste performance from a premium ski, something more than a Bonafide or Enforcer but not as stout as an MX99.
- Why choose the Citadel 106? You need a ski to put the awesome new Atomic/Salomon Shift on. Nothing against Amer’s ski offerings, but this is the ski that binding was designed for.
- Insider tip 1: I would still like to see both of these skis evolve into a series. I think the Endurance could be offered in an 88 and even a 108, and the Citadel could be a 96 and 116.
- Insider tip 2: @Tricia just received the Endurance 98 in her size, so expect a comparison of that with the Black Pearl 98, one of her reference skis in the category.
. the Renoun has a better on snow feel and is more nimble feeling and certainly is quick with its light weight. I cant compare to the M5. I could own the 184.
