Fischer Ranger 90 TI (2017)

Rating: / 5
Price: $
Year: 2017
Level:
Gender: Female
Waist Width: 90
Tip/Tail/Waist: 122-90-111
Lengths: 165, 172, 179, 186

Here’s a likely choice for Eastern freeriders. With its 90 mm waist, the 2017 Ranger 90 Ti is realistic about the snow its likely to encounter there (especially after Winter 2016), offering more quickness, bump capability, and hard-snow carvability than the wider, more optimistic Rangers. For optimized high speed carving at this width, consider the new Pro Mtn 86 Ti, but though both are metal-reinforced, the looser, smearier shape of the Ranger 90 Ti will appeal more to newschoolers.
It’s part of the returning Ranger series of wide-waisted powder and freeride skis, which range in width from a super-wide, powder-specific 122 mm at the top end to a frontside-appropriate 90 mm at the low end. All are designed for surfy, newschool performance in soft snow, with tapered shapes (for loose, slashy performance in soft snow) and tip/tail rocker (for flotation and shock absorption). All models except the value-priced version of the 90 are metal-reinforced, for high-speed calm, edge-power, and durability. But great care is taken to cut weight. The Rangers feature powerful, snappy wood-core laminate constructions with edgy vertical sidewalls, but the top surface is rounded to reduce overall mass. The Air Tec core has air-filled channels milled into it. And the Carbon Nose tip uses carbon to reduce swing weight. All models are sold flat (no binding).
Family-owned Fischer Skis is based in Reid, Austria, where all its skis (and many of those of other brands) are built. Fischer says its factory in Reid is the second largest manufacturer of skis in the world. -J.C.