Line Pandora 110 Skis

The new Pandora 110 Women’s Skis has been redesigned to incorporate Line’s Triple Hybrid Construction or THC Construction (and no, I am pretty sure that acronym is not by coincidence) while the 84, 94, and 104 skis in the Pandora collection remain unchanged and without THC. This newly developed Triple Hybrid Construction Construction has been used in Line’s Vison 118, 108 and 98 lightweight freeride skis since last season and combines three materials, namely Aramid (similar to Kevlar), Carbon fiber, and Fiberglass into a proprietary stack laminate. Because each of these materials vibrates and resonates at different frequencies, they cancel each other out which results in a very damp ski, all without adding a lot of additional weight. The Carbon stingers run vertically through the length of the skis while the Aramid is a braided fiber that helps increase the ski’s torsional stiffness. This allows Line to build a wider ski that is more proficient in powder and variable snow conditions without adding in a lot of extra weight.

The Pandora 110 is a directional flex ski with softer tips that provide float and initiates turns easily while the stiffer tails provide stability and power at high speed. The Pandora’s ski tips also incorporate Line’s “Thin Tip” technology which uses a thinner tip and sidewall construction to save 100 grams which result in reduced swing weight and minimal tip chatter.

The Pandora’s 5Cut Multi-Radius Sidecut seamlessly blends together five different radiuses into the ski’s sidecut which provides a wide variety of turn shapes that average out to a relatively tight 16.5m turn radius. In the tips, the early taper means that the widest part of the ski’s sidecut begins tapering fairly early in the tips and tails which reduces hooking in more challenging snow conditions.

On the top side of the ski Line has used their “Direct Tech” which is a directionally striated material that sheds snow faster so you won’t be carrying any additional weight on the up track and you can also show off ski's top sheet graphics.

The Pandora 110 are classified as a big mountain ski given their functional 110 waist width, generous tip and tail rocker with less camber underfoot—these skis were made to float and crave deep snow. Their light chassis and damp, stable feel underfoot, however, means that they are ideal for backcountry adventures.

Core: Partly Cloudy Core which consists of Paulownia & Maple wood core with THC Aramid, Carbon, and Fibreglass

• Triple Hybrid Construction (THC) Construction
• Directional flex pattern
• 5Cut Multi-Radius Sidecut
• Sidewall construction
• Thin Tip technology
• Profile: 10/5/7mm

Since the Line Pandora 110 Women’s Skis are much lighter than skis with similar dimensions, my expectations were that they’d ski tour well, especially on the up but that the chatter and deflection in broken chop and variable snow would be challenging at best. With most lightweight skis you have to sacrifice a great deal of stability but I found the Pandora 110’s surprisingly fun and all to charge when it was demanded of them. Their fun shape with dimensions of 144/110/130 and relatively short turn radius of 16.5m means that they pivot with minimal effort in bumps and trees and for a fat ski you can put them on edge fairly quickly. Their low swing weight also helps transition from turn to turn yet the tips exhibit no chatter even on hardback snow—thanks Triple Hybrid Construction. This makes for a more stable ride at speed and when there is no fresh snow you can still have a blast on the groomers. Their short and stout stature combined with a nice taper in the tails allows for a more surfy style of skiing and given that there is minimal rocker underfoot they tend not to bite as hard in short-radius turns.

This is a more directional ski and not so much of a freeride/freestyle ski but the spoon-shaped tips improve the Pandora 110’s ability to not only float in powder but also plow through it when it’s inevitably chopped up a few hours after first chair. You have to keep in mind though that at only 3 kilos there is a limit to the Pandora 110’s playfulness given that it doesn’t have an enormous amount of weight and bulk to answer all your demands, but again, this is a good this as this makes this ski so easy to climb and ski with out of bounds in the backcountry. To keep the Pandora 110 light for touring (yet still competent in bounds) I mounted them with the new Marker Alpinist 12 Bindings since they are super light yet can still ski the resort for lighter-weight skiers. Combining their lightweight with fat dimensions and rocker profile and it’s obvious to anyone that the Pandora 110’s are made for deep pow.

Overall this is more of a soft snow maven that has a panache for touring. They easily adapt to your terrain of choice and while they are not super powerful (again thanks to their relatively lightweight) they won’t fight you. Sure, you have to stay on them on hardback and chunder but when you have soft snow conditions they are smooth and buttery. It seems that the folks at Line are onto something with their Triple Hybrid Construction (THC)!