I used the Ranger 98 as my touring ski last year and liked it in soft snow conditions and powder. Pretty light ski so it worked well as a touring ski on the up and better than average on the way down. Found it acceptable on groomers but not that solid in harder snow conditions. I upgrade to a new, lighter, touring ski this year and just recently got around to putting some alpine bindings on the Rangers (Look Pivot) and have been skiing them with an alpine boot (Tecnica Mach 1, 130MV) for the past few days. An amazing up tick in performance vs. same ski with a Fritschi Vipec and a Scarpa Maestrale RS. Can't find anything not to like. I have trouble looking at the design of the ski and believing that something that looks like that can ski so well. Not surprised that a young racer would get a charge out of the women's version. They do float easily and then rip when you stand on them. Particularly easy to load at the top of the turn and then just let them do the work through the belly of the turn.
