Meier Prospector 106 Skis

Meier takes pride in its eco-friendly design, manufacturing, and waste reduction processes while ensuring that they produce high-performance skis and snowboards. Their lineup currently consists of 18 different skis and 1 snowboard option. For this review, we selected Meier’s Prospector 106 Skis which are their lightest ski (next to the Prospector 96) making them ideal for touring without giving up any frontside performance.

Meier takes a novel approach to making more sustainable skis and boards. By using aspen and beetle kill pine wood cores they not only find a good use for trees killed in the Colorado pine beetle epidemic but by harvesting these threes they help to mitigate wildfire risk in the area. Meier also ensures that responsible silvicultural techniques are used to harvest these trees from the western slopes of Colorado’s mountains. The result is a lightweight core that is combined with fibreglass and a non-toxic Super Sap which is derived from pine resin and recycled vegetable oil instead of using traditional epoxy resins. 

To further reduce waste, Meier has done away with 12 feet of single-use plastic film that would normally be used to wrap each pair of skis or snowboard. Instead, they now use a removable paper tag that is affixed to the ski or board with a minimal elasticized cord.

The Prospector 106 Skis have a wide 134mm shovel and progressive early rise that starts as soon as the camber underfoot ends to ensure that they float in deep backcountry pow. The tails have a pronounced yet short rocker with a slight dovetail design that provides a solid skin attachment point and provides the option of going switch if you choose.

Underfoot you’ll find a long and pronounced amount of camber to ensure the Prospector 106’s have plenty of pop in the turns and can bite into firmer snow for confident turns.

The shape of the Prospector 106 Skis is fairly traditional with 134mm in the tips, 106mm underfoot and 124mm in the tails with the widest point of the skis being well back of the tips to help with carving solid turns and preventing hooking. They have a 21m turn radius, which for their 178cm length is enough to make carving enjoyable while still being stable in deeper snow and at speed.

Meier uses a durable top sheet that not only sheds snow well but also stands up to the abuses of skiing, as is the case with the extra durable base material which helps minimize damage from those inevitable backcountry rock encounters.

Meier’s Prospector 106 Skis are the big brother to the 96 version and provide a lot of versatility for skiers who wish to ski deep snow and push their abilities in bounds or out. If you want to go farther and faster in the backcountry then the Prospector 96 is the one you should consider but you will be sacrificing some float and fun on powder days.

Hand picked Colorado aspen and beetle kill pine core with light-weight fiberglass and non-toxic Super Sap.

• Handmade in Colorado USA
• Made from Colorado aspen and beetle kill pine 
• non-toxic Super Sap used instead of traditional epoxy is derived from pine resin and recycled vegetable oil
• Die-cut bases
• Sublimated Top sheet
• Colorado Proud with most materials and products being sourced locally

This is the first ski I’ve ever tested from Meier and I was impressed overall. While not the lightest touring ski out there it is still within the respectable range and at 106 underfoot it is a good compromise between fat and floaty for the backcountry and narrow and shapely enough for the resort.

At 21m the turn radius of the Prospector 106 skis is fairly normal for a ski of these dimensions but that means it’s also not overly carvy and while 106 underfoot is fat it’s not overly fat which means that you can still have fun on pow days, plow through broken snow with ease. While it doesn’t break any lightweight records the Prospector 106 has enough mass to be fun on groomers and in more challenging conditions but it’s not a dedicated touring ski built for high vertical days and multi-day traverses, that is unless you are strong and/or young. Yet, it’s still light enough for touring and makes for a very versatile ski for resort and backcountry laps.

I paired the Prospector 106 Skis with the new lighter Marker Kingpin M-Werks 12 Bindings which provide a solid platform for even the most hardcore resort or backcountry skier. The Marker Alpinist 12 would have been too light for a ski that is of these dimensions and their weight and would have limited how far you could push this ski's capabilities.

Throughout my testing in bounds and out, the Prospector 106 proved to be a versatile ski that was fun in most conditions but more at home floating in soft snow than on harder packed snow. While they could carve competently given their larger turn radius they would be more powerful and aggressive with a larger shovel or shorter turn radius, however, this would have compromised their deep snow capabilities. This is a touring focussed ski after all, so it does best at what it is designed for and everything else is simply gravy.