Watch: Salomon Teases First Proper Freestyle Ski In Years

Salomon got the rumor mill buzzin' earlier today when they uploaded an Instagram post that teased a new, unreleased twin-tip, presumably freestyle-oriented, prototype ski model.

While it provides little to go off, here's the post. Don't worry, speculation, with a bit of insight from our resident gear guru, Cy Whitling, to follow.

First things first, why is the promise of a twin-tipped, freestyle-oriented Salomon ski significant?

Here's Cy's take:

"Salomon was one of the first mainstream brands to build a twin tip and was one of the brands putting the most money into freeskiing [a catch all term that refers to the trick-oriented, now ubiquitous, flavor of skiing first popularized in the late 90s. Freeskiing and freestyle are often used interchangeably]. They were one of the freestyle and park skiing brands. Then, they pulled back from supporting freestyle, and especially park skiing at all for a few years, and didn't really have a twin tip ski in the line. Yes, they made the QST Spark but it doesn't have the cache of Salomon's park skis from the past, and they've put very little marketing behind it, so it's exciting to see another twin tip from Salomon."

Cy makes a great point. Salomon was one of the brands supporting park skiing and freeskiing during my younger years. They released loads of classic twin-tip skis, like the Rocker2 and Suspect, and created perhaps the most iconic freestyle-oriented outfit, the G Suit, popularized by park skiing icon Simon Dumont.

Then, they drifted away from freestyle, focusing instead on big mountain and lightweight backcountry gear, a shift that disappointed a core sector of the skiing community.

Therefore, to the trick obsessed among us, the promise of a new, thoughtfully designed twin-tip from Salomon could indicate the coming of a long-awaited return to freestyle form for the French brand.

But what the heck is this new ski, then? The jury, obviously, is still out on that. Although a few old videos, like this one from European park wizard Remco Kayser, provide hints.

In this clip, Remco's riding a pair of prototype Salomons with the same top sheets as the TenEighty, one of the first twin-tipped freestyle skis ever created.

Remco's video set the internet abuzz with questions but didn't provide answers -- Salomon, despite the recent tease, still hasn't announced what these prototypes actually were -- another dead end.

Cy, our gear guy, speculates that the more recently teased twin-tips might mirror the Rocker2 or the Twenty Twelve, two popular but no-longer-manufactured all-mountain skis with a freestyle bent.

And that, at this point, is all we can do: speculate. Regardless, the promise of a new jibby ski from Salomon has me stoked alongside a crowd of other freestyle-inclined skiers.

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