The Rossignol Hero Elite ST Ti is the mellowest member of the Non-FIS Race cast we assembled last spring at Mammoth. It behaves as if all the demanding, my-way-or-the-highway traits of true race skis had been polished off, leaving a ski with race aptitude without the attitude.
The Rossi Hero Elite ST’s high overall score is driven in large part by its unusually high rating for Finesse properties, including low-speed turning, forgiveness, drift-ability and Finesse/Power Balance. Its facility at drifting could be attributable to its Titanal Power Rail, a vertical band of Titanal that bisects the ski. This reduces torsional rigidity – ergo the extra permissiveness when not on edge – but reinforces contact along the long axis. The result is a smooth ride that doesn’t demand aggression to be appreciated.
Slalom race skis have a reputation for being demanding, but it’s actually easier to execute a full range of turn shapes on a SL versus a GS sidecut. One of the characteristics of the Hero Elite ST Ti that makes if feel more like a high-end recreational ski and less like a pure racing machine is that it isn’t fussy about turn shape. Its ability to smear a little during the turn transition opens up its performance range and its accessibility to the non-racer.
Of all the Non-FIS Race skis we rated, only one other model had as small a spread between its Power and Finesse scores. (The ski with the most even balance between Power and Finesse averages was the Kästle RX12 GS, a plate-less pussycat of a GS.) This result confirms what our testers told us, that the Hero Elite ST Ti is “more of a recreational SL,” as Theron Lee pegged it, “with a dead-even flex tip to tail,” per Corty Lawrence, “very much easy to ski on,” he adds.
If you’re looking in this genre for an all-mountain ski, as opposed to a pure race rocket, our scores indicate that the Volkl Racetiger SL and Rossi Hero Elite ST Ti have the biggest performance envelope in the category. The Rossi in particular raises the fun bar and lowers the fatigue factor.
