You can tell a lot about a ski by its immediate family. Rossi’s Hero Elite Plus Ti is closely related to the Hero Elite LT Ti and ST Ti, both legit non-FIS Race models, even though the Plus Ti’s plus-sized shape (78mm) is many mm’s more ample than the 71mm waist of the LT Ti and 68mm midriff on the SL Ti. The Hero Elite Plus Ti not only uses the same construction as its gate-bashing sibs, its sidecut radius is the same as the ST’s in the167cm size preferred by slalom specialists.
Last year Rossi converted all of the Hero Elite clan to a new damping system, Line Control Technology. (LCT). Instead of using horizontal sheets of Titanal, as has been the case for decades among race models, LCT uses a vertical Ti laminate down the center of the ski so the forebody is more resistant to deflection. Torsional rigidity is softened a tad to allow the deep sidecut to engage gradually and progressively as the ski is tipped and pressured. “Stable and forgiving into the turn,” assures Scott Sahr from Aspen Ski and Board, “without compromising edge contact.”
The Experience 88 has been a fixture in the Rossignol line and an award-winning player in the All-Mountain East genre since it first materialized back in the days when I was a rank-and-file tester for SKI magazine. Up until last season there was no “Ti” in its name or in its guts. The E88 played perpetual second fiddle in a series headlined by the Experience 98 for the first few seasons and later by the Experience 100 and 100 HD.
Last year Rossi leveled the playing field, introducing Line Control Technology in both the Experience 94 Ti and 88 Ti. A vertical strip of Titanal runs down the 88’s midline helping to absorb vibration and maintain snow contact. The E88 Ti also had its sidecut trimmed by a substantial 7mm’s at both ends, essentially converting it from a Frontside orientation to a more off-trail disposition. The straighter shape allows the ski to ride at a more consistent level in track-riven crud, without diluting its ability to hold an edge on hard snow.
Even though the E88 Ti is the beneficiary of several generations of upgrades, it retains the ease of operation that made its ancestors the go-to ski for thousands of Finesse skiers looking for one ski to do it all. Its highest scores are for sustained edge grip and forgiveness, which fairly encapsulates its core competence. The E88 has always been good at making lower skill skiers feel comfortable, encouraging better technique without requiring it.
What new women’s ski this year was a unisex ski last year? Answer: the three smallest sizes of the Kore 93. As has been observed on these pages before, the construction requirements of an off-trail ski and a women’s ski are virtually identical. Having already created an immaculate lightweight construction, all that remained to make its highly acclaimed Kore 93 a women’s ski was to move the mounting position two cm’s ahead and add a W to its name.
By anointing the Kore 93 with a “W,” Head felt it could part ways with the Wild Joy and Great Joy. Let us pause a moment to mourn the passing of two pioneering women’s skis. The Wild Joy was remarkably supportive for its weight, an identity crisis that may have hurt its ability to attract a larger following. The Great Joy should have been the star of the original Joy series, but it’s hard to make a 98mm-waisted ski the centerpiece of a women’s collection. When we look back at this era, the Great Joy will be remembered as one greatest made-from-scratch women’s skis of all time.
The one traditional ski trait that is still largely absent from today’s ski market in general and the Big Mountain category in particular is rebound. Before rockered baselines became standard equipment on any ski meant for powder, the end-to-end camber line of an all-glass ski created a giant spring. In the down-up-down weighting rhythm then in vogue, the skier de-cambered the arch of the ski at the apex of the turn and allowed the stored energy in the glass to recoil and send the skis and skier back near the surface to transition to the next turn. Skis without any rebound stayed submerged, where the tips would inevitably cross, dooming their owner to ignominy.
Ten points to the first reader who guesses which classic characteristic is so intertwined with the identity of the Rossi Soul 7 HD it could be said to own it. The Soul 7 HD is the Prince of Pounce, the Raja of Rebound, the Powder Porpoise – you get the idea. As long as it has snow to settle into, it provides a ride that’s as effortless as powder skiing gets. Take away the medium that gives it life, and it does as well as a dolphin on a dock.
Line turns 25 this year, still young by old guard Euro brand standards, and still able to speak directly, eye-to-eye and bong-hit-by-bong-hit, with today’s alienated youth. Rebels define themselves by what they are not, and in the case of the slacker rebels Line rabble-rouses, the list of things they’re not into is long:
Super-carving on groomers. (Super-carving in pow is allowed and is totally awesome.)
Color-matched outfits, unless it’s ironic.
Ski lessons that involve drills.
Any other ski lessons.
(Narrow skis.)
Ski fashion.
Stories that begin, “You should have been here…”
Any racing that involves missing actual skiing.
Any waiting for anyone on a pow day.
The Man.
You get the idea.
Based on this partial list, you’d think every Line would be twin-tipped, center-mounted and only operable by someone who started shaving in the last five years. But Line is in fact sneaky technical. Most of its models are decidedly directional, use a rear-of-center mounting point and possess at least a small dose of camber underfoot. Line has been making non-twin, in-resort skis for years. If you look in the back of granddad’s ski locker you might see a pair Prophets, wonderful, easy to flex skis that used a cutout metal laminate for stability.
The spirit of the old Prophets lives on in the Supernatural series, headlined by the Supernatural 100. It’s a surfy ski with a spine of Titanal lattice that gives it adequate grip on hard snow and, more importantly, keeps it on course in set-up crud.
