Although marketed as a freeride ski the Q 98 actually felt a little more at home on the powdery pistes in Kuhtai.
When we took it off the side into the powder and chopped up snow it felt a bit lacking in stiffness, yet once back on the piste the Q 98 was quite smooth and responsive.
Indeed, turn initiation was pretty good and it was snappy enough in coming out of the turn - this is no doubt due to the honeycomb 'Koroyd' structure in the ski's tip and tail which provides a dampening effect and also prevents too much chatter.
The Q 98 also has a 'Utility Rocker', in effect a modified twin rocker that allows for more edge contact on the snow, which also helps it perform on piste.
So, it sounds like we're describing a piste ski rather than a freeride ski! Given the immense amount of crossover in dimensions between piste, all mountain and freeride this is perhaps no surprise, but the Q 98 will undoubtedly perform better off-piste than most skis in the other two categories given its 98mm waist; however, if you plan on spending more time away from the groomers than on them you may be best off going for its big brother the Q 105.
If on the other hand you have more of a tendency to dip into the pow with just short journeys away from the piste the Q 98 is worth a once over.
