[The test results for the Hero Master are from 2016; its only changes for 2017 are cosmetic.]

Rossignol created the Hero Master for Masters’ racers who, as in their adolescence, have to economize and use one ski for two events. But the Hero Master could live a long life without ever seeing a start house or a finish gate and still pass on to the celestial podium fulfilled. For this sweetheart loves to open up the gas line and burn fuel by the barrel, flying down America’s groomed highways with its sirens on and lights blazing.

This all sounds a bit hyperbolic, until you’re the person stepping out of a Hero Master in amazement. It has the firmly planted property of a refrigerator and you’re a magnet affixed to its front, secure in the knowledge your partner has your back. You could be tossed off-balance by a sudden slab of wind crust and before you can say boo, the Hero Master would blast through it, keeping you upright and on your way. If wind crust sounds like an unlikely component of a race course, it’s because chaining the Hero Master to a life amid bamboo and flags is as inhumane as suspending calves to keep their meat tender.

“You might get pulled over for going too fast,” cautions Dickson from Powder House, a wily veteran with many miles of ski testing under his belt. But, as Dickson well knows, on a ski like the Hero Master, it’s better to live life with élan, diving into every arc with abandon.

Don’t worry. Gravity’s impetus will keep you upright and the Rossi Master will do the rest.