A test card from South Lake Tahoe’s Powder House paints a telling portrait of the Laser SL’s strengths and limitations. The written remarks could not have been more complimentary: “Awesome! Best ski I’ve ever skied.” But the accompanying scores were deeply divided between Finesse and Power properties, with no score above 3 for off-piste performance, low-speed turning, forgiveness and drift and no score below 9 for carving accuracy, rebound, stability at speed, short turns and Finesse/Power balance.
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.
“Super quick, almost too quick!” exclaimed Pat from Powder House, indicating that what the Hero Elite ST wants to do it does very, very well. The question is, are you up to it?
For the wheelhouse of this slalom are turns that dive in and out of every arc with the staccato speed a ZZ Top guitar solo. “This ski lives up to its name: SHORT TURN,” opined Zac Larsen. “Your legs run out of turns before you run out of mountain.” Brother Luke Larsen was on the same page, advising prospective ST skiers to “buckle up – it’s got a lot of rebound.”
Like the Völkl Racetiger GS, the Rossignol Hero Elite LT is a muscular ski that obeys turning commands with the obedience and precision of a dressage horse. If groomers are your territory and speed is your best friend, the Hero Elite LT Ti belongs in your ski locker.
There’s an ineffable ease to the Elite LT’s flow down the hill. As Zac Larsen of The Lift House noted, “Easy to ski great,” which is one way to describe what everyone is looking for in a new ski. Larsen added, “Held at speed!” with the exclamation point evidence that a ski so simple to guide shouldn’t be so unbudgeable at ballistic speeds. It’s literally effortless in long radius turns.
