Coalition SOS Review

We hoped for just a bit more from this ski, as we think the company's mission statement is a worthy one, and we love the idea of them making skis built just for women. They're onto a good thing in the realm of powder performance; the SOS just needs some tweaks in other areas to make it truly versatile.

Performance Comparison

Stability at Speed

Our testers had trouble finding the sweet spot of this ski; we thought we were in tune with it, and then it would suddenly buck us out of balance. There is such an incredible amount of rocker in the tips — it's as if the entire front half of the ski is not in contact with the snow. This feature allows the SOS to stay afloat well in fresh snow, but it does not create a feeling of steadiness along the length of the ski when moving at higher speeds. Perhaps because we were skiing such a small effective edge, we often felt thrown off balance with nowhere to recover fore and aft. The limited effective edge length meant less gripping power when we were on firmer snow, leading to a challenging ride on hard-packed steeps or ice.

Carving Ability

The sidecut of the SOS is almost imperceptible visually, and the published radius is 25 meters, which is quite a bit longer than most skis in the all-mountain range. A 25-meter radius creates a giant slalom-shaped and speed turn (that's pretty big and fast for anyone without Mikaela Shiffron's quads and glutes). Since we didn't love how this ski performed at those speeds, we were not often fully comfortable laying them over into an arced turn. When we did, we noticed that we had to remember to focus pressure for longer on the outside ski, rather than moving inside earlier as we might on a ski with a tighter turn radius. Otherwise, the outside ski would barrel down the mountain on its natural trajectory away from us when we thought we were moving sideways. This ski is quite stiff, but with an unusual flex pattern, so it doesn't have much rebound to speak of.

Powder Performance

Powder skiing is where the SOS is most at home. Its supremely rockered tip profile was a liability on hard groomers, but it works like a charm for flotation in deeper snow. The SOS buttered and pivoted easily on the surface of both light freshies and denser Sierra cement. We had hoped that it would be a full-on powder machine, staying perfectly atop the snow at every turn. It wasn't exactly the infallible beast we'd imagined, perhaps because there isn't the distinctive wide shovel to plow a pathway for the rest of the ski. The extreme rocker in the tips, plus the wide 105-millimeter platform underfoot, provided more than adequate buoyancy for us to feel confident landing medium-sized drops in deep snow.

Crud Performance

Generally, the SOS's heavy-duty plank-like nature served well in chopped-up snow conditions. Only occasionally did the unpredictable flex pattern knock us off track this type of snow. We appreciated the stiffer qualities of the SOS; one of our testers commented that it was like a “big burly snowcat pushing the chunder around.”

Terrain Playfulness

The SOS is far from a lively, lightweight ski. It felt stiff and land-bound, even just skating or walking around on the flats near the chairlift. This ski felt heavy to get airborne, but there was some joy to be found in the solid platform it provided for a landing. In terms of rebound, we received little to no feedback from this ski when we pressured and released it; any kickback we got was too unpredictable to find enjoyment in it.

Bumps

This ski is too stiff and heavy-footed to make the agile movements necessary to succeed in a mogul field.

Should You Buy the Coalition SOS?

You need to be planning to ski primarily fresh snow or chopped-up powder to make the Coalition SOS a worthwhile investment. But a purchase means you will be supporting a female-oriented, independent ski company. For those living in the Western US, this opportunity to support small, local businesses may be reason alone to adjust your brand loyalties.

What Other Women's All-Mountain Skis Should You Consider?