Ski: Line Vision 108

Length skied: 189cm

Actual Length (Tip-tail w/ straight tape): 188cm

Measured weight (each ski): 1705/1706g

Shape: 142-108-128

Sidecut: 19.5 meters

Mount: Recommended line (-6.5cm)

Binding: Dynafit Radical 12 FT

Days skied: 10+

Reviewer height/weight: 5'5, 140lbs

Review Location(s): Jackson Hole Wyoming

Conditions skied: Touring, pow, groomers, corn, slush.

[Editor's note: Our review was conducted on the 2021 Line Vision 108, which is unchanged for 2022 & 2023 except for graphics]

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[Editor's note: Our review was conducted on the 2020 Vision 108, which is unchanged for 2021 except for graphics]

The Vision 108 is a new ski from Line this year. The Vision is described as being “stable at high speeds, light in the air, and easy to control”. Line is marketing this ski as a lightweight all-mountain freeride ski but it is not taking the place of the Sick Day or Supernatural series. Based on my initial observations it looks like line took various attributes of both lineups of skis and blended them into the Vision. The ski looks and feels like a Line ski, featuring a similar tip shape, sidecut, and rocker profile to the other skis Line makes.

I received the Vision right before the resort closed for the year so I chose to mount them up with a spare set of touring bindings I had. I chose the Dynafit Radical F12 because of how light the ski was and because my other option was a Cast touring setup which was already on a different set of skis making my choices limited to these older tech bindings. That said I really haven’t had any issues with these bindings and they actually suit the skis quite well.

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Shape/Flex/Construction:

The sidecut and rocker are similar to other skis that Line makes– the Vision has a moderate amount of rocker in the tip and bit less in the tail and a slight amount of camber through the center of the ski. The tips and tails are a medium flex with underfoot being medium stiff. I would rate the tips about 7/10, the tails 7.5/10 and underfoot being an 8.5/10. There is a very slight amount of taper in the tip with more taper in the tail.

Line says this ski is a twin tip, but I would only call it a partial twin, there is a turned-up tail but it isn’t as significant as a full twin. That's not to say that you can’t ski or land switch on it, just look at Dylan Siggers Instagram posts on the Visions, but the tail is a lot less pronounced than something like the Blend or the Chronic that feature a full twin tail.

The Vision features a full sidewall construction with 2.1x2mm edges which are pretty thick considering the weight of the ski. It also features what Line calls a 5cut multi-radius sidecut, meaning they blended 5 different radiuses into the sidecut which they claim gives a wide variety of turn shapes. Also new is the “THC” construction, which while being a good weed reference also stands for triple hybrid construction, meaning they press Aramid, Carbon fiber and Fiberglass into the layup which is claimed to create a damper feeling ski.

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On Snow:

I was able to get the Vision onto the resort for a few days right before they closed for the season. What that entailed for me was skiing inbounds on my touring boots and tech bindings, a set up I typically wouldn’t choose, (but I also usually wouldn’t choose to ski a ski this light inbounds either so it seemed fair to run this test setup). During these days I encountered refrozen hard snow during the morning and then once the springtime sun hit the south-facing slopes turned to soft corn. I found that the Vision 108 had a very intuitive feeling on groomers and could be laid over easily into consistent arcs down the run. At first, I found the tail wanted to grab a little more than I would like but a quick detune at the base of the mountain led to the tails being easy to release halfway through a turn and start into a slarve. The speed limit is very high on this ski, with the limiting factor more being my trust in tech bindings than the feeling of the skis. I was very pleasantly surprised by the edge hold as well as the dampness while blasting through semi softened re-frozen snow as well as very firm snow in the morning.

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Steeps:

During these end of season spring days, I took the Visions in a steep, north-facing backcountry zone just outside the boundaries of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The Vision performed excellently in the steeps I got it into, I did notice the extra length compared to the other skis I was skiing on this year, with the visions being 3-4 centimeters longer. Once I got accustomed to the extra length I found the flatter tail provided a good surface to hop turn off and I was impressed by the edge hold on relatively bad snow that had been compacted all season and then scraped off down to a very firm layer in spots. The lightweight was also an extreme bonus on the long sidestep out of the backcountry. Yet again, I was pleasantly surprised by the dampness I was experiencing on the Visions, they didn’t ski as I would expect from something in this weight range, and they stayed composed without chatter from under my feet as the steeps flattened out into faster run-outs.

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Powder/Float:

The Vision 108 floats about as good as any 108 underfoot skis could, and even better than some wider skis I've been on. With a decent amount of tip rocker and softer tips with minimal taper the front of the ski never dived on me. I wasn't able to get the skis into incredibly deep powder, but I did get them into 6-8 inches of denser snow. In consistent pow this ski does everything you want it to, it floats, stomps landings, can break free into a slarve, and provides enough stability to ski pretty damn fast. I'll definitely be skiing on these a lot this upcoming season and will report back on how they perform on deeper days.

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Mixed conditions:

For the weight of this ski, the Vision vastly outshines anything else I have skied on in variable conditions. Again I will stress that I am talking about variable snow skiing compared to other skis in the same weight class, the Vision will by no means crush everything in its way in the same way that a Blizzard Cochise or the old all-metal Volkl Katana can. However, I was surprised with the performance of the Visions when I first brought them into refrozen snow that was beginning to soften up. I wouldn’t describe the Vision as a damp ground-hugging ski, but it the ski does transmit surprisingly little vibration into your feet and does not seem disturbed by skiing fast over bumpy terrain. I’m not sure how Line did it, maybe the THC construction is more than just a weed joke, but either way the Vision punches way above its weight class in terms of dampness compared to its competition. The nice thing is that this extra dampness still doesn’t take away the maneuverability of this ski, it is still a light ski after all.

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Playfulness:

The overall lightweight of this ski translates into a light feeling ski in the air. It is plenty easy to spin and flip on these skis, and the flatter tail and lower tail rocker provide a stable landing pad. I wouldn’t really want to ski pow switch on these but the tail is twin enough for hitting park lips or carving groomers switch. The Vision isn’t really aimed at park skiing but it would definitely hold up for an occasional lap. In terms of all-mountain playfulness, the Vision performs very well, being lightweight with low camber makes it easy to pivot and move wherever you want it to go. While the tips are decently soft the Vision isn’t the easiest thing to press into a nose butter however it can be done with a little bit more effort than a more center-mounted symmetrical ski. Overall I would rate the Vision very highly, at least in terms of all-mountain playfulness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B32uui0FeOD/

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Durability:

I have experienced some failure from older Line skis so I will update this section if I happen to run into any issues. For now, I am excited to report no top sheet issues, no edge delams, and no unwarranted base damage.

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Comparisons:

I skied both of the skis below with variations of the same bindings, given that the vision sits in between these two in terms of weight and waist width I thought they would be good comparisons.

Vision 108 vs. Atomic Benthchetler 120:

While the Bentchetler is wider than the Vision I found that the Vision supplied a very similar amount of float out of the tips of the skis. The Visions tails sunk a bit more than the Bents, however, the Bents would tip dive faster when I got a little too forward on them. This can mostly be attributed to the more centered mounting point of the Bentchetler as well as the significant taper on the tips of the Bent. I also found that despite the Vision being lighter than the Bentchetler, the Vision handled variable snow better and had a more damp feeling through bumps. I would say that the Bentchetler would be a better ski for someone who is going to be doing more butters and tricks in the backcountry. I found the swing weight of the Bents to be less than that of the Visions, I would also say that the underfoot portion of the Bents is a tad stiffer than the midsection of the Visions.

Vision 108 vs. Blizzard Zero G 95

The Vision is wider than the Zero-g 95, however since I compared the Vision to the heavier and wider Bentchetler, why not the lighter and narrower Zero G. I also haven't got the chance to ski the Zero-G 108 which would be a better match. The Zero-G is incredibly hard to ski in variable snow, and it doesn't have a very playful shape. Comparatively, the Vision 108 is much more playful, and pretty much better in every aspect of skiing, given its marginal weight gain I think there's no reason to choose the Zero-G over the Visions. The Zero-G 95 may be better suited to you if you're looking more for huge mountaineering missions and all your skis have to do is stay on your feet doing hops turns. But for skiing in a playful style, hitting cliffs, airs, and skiing powder the Vision wins this match up.

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Conclusion:

The Vision is an incredibly versatile ski, I think depending on what you want from your skis you could use the Vision to serve for a variety of things in your quiver. For me personally, this ski made for the best touring ski I have had the pleasure of using and will be serving that purpose for me for the foreseeable future. The Vision represents the freeride touring ski, it blends a close to perfect balance of low weight for the uphills and maneuverability as well as an almost unheard of dampness for a ski this light. For someone who doesn’t care about skiing as fast as possible inbounds, this could make a great one ski quiver combined with a burlier touring binding like the Cast set up or a shift. I know for a fact Andrew Whiteford a long time Line skier and a local to Jackson was skiing this on some very burly lines in the Jackson backcountry so they can definitely be charged hard if needed.

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