One of the puzzles ski designers face is how much Titanal to put in a top-of-the-line, off-trail women’s ski. The knee-jerk option of reproducing the men’s version only works if the men’s template has already reduced its metal dosage. The list of all-wood-core skis with top and bottom full-length, full-width sheets of Titanal that have succeeded as Women’s Big Mountain models is so short as to be non-existent.
The last few years have seen several off-trail series that have adopted a less-is-more approach to metal in their female model families. Rossignol’s carefully allocated measure of metal in its new Rallybird 104 Ti fits neatly in this popular trend.
As Rossi set about re-organizing all of its off-trail series for this season, several options were on the table. Last year’s Rallybird Ti was modeled on a powerful unisex ski, the Sender Ti, laden with a men’s dose of metal. Also in the pipeline was the new Sender 106 Ti+, with a top Titanal laminate that extended edge-to-edge, which amplifies edge pressure but also draws attention to the ski’s broad beam.
In the final analysis, Rossi elected to use the relatively shorter Ti plate of the new Sender 104 Ti, along with a bottom laminate of Carbon Alloy Matrix to even out the flex balance and smooth out the ride in rough conditions. The truncated Ti plate shared by the Sender 104 Ti and Rallybird 104 Ti deliberately doesn’t quite reach the edge, which loosens its grip, the better to glide sideways in slop.
By keeping most of the plate confined beneath the bindings, the extremities are lighter and looser so the skis swivel with less resistance, an essential trait off-trail. As we noticed on the Sender 104 Ti, concentrating the Titanal under the bindings keeps the swingweight down, for easier swiveling, and lowers the overall mass so the ski feels more nimble and easier to foot-steer, all desirable traits for off-trail skiing.
While the Titanal plate doesn’t dominate the ski’s personality, it’s still great to have on board when the conditions are challenging. Rossi also makes a Rallybird 102, with no metal in it, which was also in last year’s line. That the Rallybird 102 is intended for a lighter, perhaps younger lass of lesser skills is indicated by the downward shift of its size range (154,162,170). If you’re an advanced woman already initiated in the rites of off-piste skiing, the extra $100 for the Rallybird 104 Ti is money well spent.
For putting its attention on making off-trail skiing less arduous for the lighter skier, we award the Rallybird 104 Ti a Silver Skier Selection.
