It wasn’t so very long ago that the Rossignol Soul 7 HD W all but owned this category.  All performance aspects considered, the Blackops Rallybird Ti that succeeded it in the line last year is a very different ski, and a better one.

Rossi packed a lot of technology into the Blackops Rallybird Ti, which is the main reason it holds so well on hardpack, a condition it wasn’t really made for.  The biggest differences between the two generations of Rossi’s are in baseline and construction, with the Rallybird Ti possessing a more continuous snow connection and a damper ride able to suck up the vibrations that come with higher speeds.

The Rallybird Ti doesn’t just toss Titanal at the problem; it adds supplementary damping systems on both the horizontal and vertical planes. An elastomer layer Rossi calls Damp Tech smoothes out the ride in the forebody while twin ABS struts running the length of the ski resist every effort to knock it off line.  A weave of carbon alloy incases its poplar core, just for good measure.  It’s as ready to drift as it is to carve, an indispensable trait in an all-terrain ski. “I can drive the skis where I want, charge through the turn or slide. The ski is not pushed around by bumps and crud and it’s playful,” notes Freeride World Tour athlete and Rossi tester Juliette Willimann.

Not to be overlooked in the genre is the Rallybird sans Titanal, which was essayed by the ripping Meghan Ochs at Mt. Rose. “Loved this ski!” she raved. “I’m shocked, given how wide it is and its lack of sidecut, how fun it is off and ON piste! I bet the Ti model is even more fun,” Ms. Ochs surmised.