SCOTT SUPERGUIDE SKIS

Scott dedicates a lot of their attention to ski touring products, producing some phenomenal skis, boots and lightweight avalanche airbags.

Here, we want to focus on their popular Superguide range, following the addition of the wide, light and ski-performance orientated Superguide Freetour ski.

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SCOTT SUPERGUIDE SKIS

Superguide skis are not new for Scott, being introduced in winter 15/16, to replace the popular Crus’Air skis and their siblings.

The Superguide range originally included a 95 and 88 model. The naming was relative to the waist width of those skis in the 178cm length.

For winter 20/21, the range has grown to 6 models, including 2 for women. Really there are 5 skis, as they do a Superguide 88 and Superguide 88 Black, which are the same ski just in 2 colour options. First we’ll chat about the build across the range, then take a look at each model.

Superguide skis have always impressed us with the ease with which you can ascend, then they dish out bags of fun on the way back down. Light touring skis with carbon can sometimes be a little twitchy, and to be honest not all that fun to ski. Scott’s further improved the behaviour of these already great skis by adding a little beech, tweaking the layup of the laminates and shaving a smidgen of weight; they ski really well.

Construction

They all share Scott’s Sandwich Sidewall Semi-Elliptic Construction. The skis are not flat on top, rather they have a convex appearance, with the skis thickest down the middle, narrowing to the sides.

Scott developed the core of their Superguide skis for winter 20/21. The new core uses a combination of lightweight paulownia wood with denser beech wood stringers running along the length, adding stability and downhill performance. Scott’s also boosted the skis with addition of carbon and aramid (Kevlar) fibres, which again improve stability without adding too much weight. This also improves the torsional rigidity of the skis, allowing them to grip well on firmer snow. The aramid layer, sitting above the woodcore, helps to soak up vibrations.

The Superguide skis are competitively light with a great balance of smooth dampening and confident energy for the ski back down.

Scott utilises their 3D sidecut for this range, as they do with all of their skis (except the Scrapper 90). This is designed to offer greater versatility in a variety of conditions. You have a tighter sidecut shape at the front and rear of the ski, to make turning easier. Underfoot there’s a longer radius to enhance stability, power and grip.

Rocker

All of the Superguide skis have more rocker up-front, called Pro-Tip Rocker 320, with a little up-sweep at the rear. The tip profile and rocker shape are designed to help the skis float in soft snow without adversely impacting edge hold on firm snow.

They don’t really talk about tail rocker in these skis, but there is a little up-sweep at the rear. This aids release from the turn, keeping the skis nimble in challenging terrain and conditions.

The number in the name of Pro-Tip Rocker of Scott skis is an indicator of the height of the rocker. For winter 20-21 there are four levels, ranging from 250 to 350. The higher the number, the more pronounced the rocker shape. The length of the rocker also increases as you move up the scale.

Skin attachment

As with many brands, Scott has their own skin attachment system for these skis. The tip of the skis has a cut-out with a slot either side of the central rib.

The ski has two flat pins that slide in and clip around this central rib. The tail of the skin uses a regular tail clip to secure the back of the skin to the ski.

All of the Superguide skis have a skin tail clip notch at the rear of the ski, which helps to keep the skin tail clip in place.

Scott Superguide Freetour

Lengths: 178, 185cm
Sidecut: 134-104-122mm in 178cm
Radius: 24.0m in both lengths
Weight per ski: 1,580g in 178cm
Price: £575 / €649.90 / $749.95*

This is the new flagship ski of the range, and a superb addition to the family.

Created for powder fans that are happy to earn their turns, the Freetour is easily light enough to spend hours lapping your chosen freeride line, without ever having to rely in mechanical up-lift.

The new, beefy construction and extra width makes a ski that skis superbly well on the way back down. This does mean the ski benefits from touring boots that are designed for skiing pretty hard. The new Scott Freeguide Carbon is the type of boot that best suits this ski. If you use a really light touring boot the skiing performance is compromised too much, in our opinion.

We’ve made a video to help you understand ski touring kit choices, so you can get the most out of your set-up.

The matt finish to the top sheet, designed to help prevent snow sticking to the skis, gives the skis a premium look and feel. This matt finish exists across the whole Superguide range.

Scott Superguide 95 W / 95

Lengths: 160, 168cm (women’s) / 162, 170, 178, 184cm (men’s)
Sidecut: 126-93-111mm in 160cm / 130-95-115mm in 178cm
Radius: 19.0m in 160cm / 21.0m in 178cm
Weight per ski: 1,310g in 160cm / 1,440g in 178cm
Price: £525 / €599.90 / $699.95*

Mid-90’s is the key waist width for freetour skiing. Across most brands this width seems to offer the best mix of low weight, skiing performance and excellence when skinning.

The Superguide 95 has always been a popular model with our testers, but the new construction steps it up a gear. If you’re looking at a ski of this width, the chances are you care as much, if not more, about the skiing than the skinning.

The new paulownia / beech core and lay-up of the Superguide 95 plays to those strengths. At less than 1.5kg in the 178cm length it’s easily light enough, but now offers an even better skiing experience.

It’s a superb match for Scott’s new Freeguide Carbon boot, but works really well with lighter options such as the Superguide Carbon, Cosmos III and Celeste III.

Scott Superguide 88 W / 88 / 88 Black

Lengths: 144, 152, 160, 168cm (women’s) / 162, 170, 178, 184cm (men’s)
Sidecut: 121-84-106mm in 160cm in 160cm / 125-88-110mm in 178cm
Radius: 16.0m in 160cm / 18.0m in 178cm
Weight per ski: 1,200g in 160cm / 1,340g in 178cm
Price: £475 / €549.90 / $649.95*

Now you’re moving into the territory if the weight weeny, where heading up hill is just as important as coming back down. Like the other Superguide skis, you get the new Dual Light woodcore, providing the combined benefit of paulownia and beech.

Even though these skis are more touring focussed than their wider brethren, for lighter skiers they float surprisingly well. An ace mix of tour capability and skiing fun.

The Superguide 88 skis work best when skied with lighter touring boots. You don’t need the drive and power of beefy models, like the Freeguide Carbon. They still work well with those boots, but you’re touring would be even easier with a lighter model, like the Cosmos and Celeste boots.

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Want to see more of what Scott’s got to offer, you can visit their site at ScottSports.com.

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Quoted Prices

*Prices quoted here can be a mixture of recommended retail price from the brand and prices that you can currently get the kit for from retailers in that territory. The prices may therefore be less or more than you can find in-store / online and are only intended to give you a guide as to what you may expect to pay.

Always ensure you do adequate research when buying ski equipment to ensure you’re getting the best service and advice from the retailer, combined with a price that works for your budget. Don’t assume that cheaper means better value.