A woman’s first turns on a Big Mountain model can feel like steering a tanker. Some have a way of swimming around when flat, others seem to wander all the time. Then there are skis like the Rossi Soul 7 HD W that provide all the benefits of extra buoyancy without feeling fat or sluggish. The reason the Rossi feels narrower than it measures is the energy housed in the glass and carbon that arches over the camber pocket underfoot. From a loaded position at the bottom of the turn, the Soul 7 HD W rebounds up and out of whatever off-piste porridge you’re in, ferrying the skier across the fall line and into another energized arc.
The Super 7 HD’s behavior is perfectly in synch with how most advanced to expert skiers prefer to ski fresh snow: set a rhythm from the first turn-and-rise cycle and keep that beat going with the regularity of a pulse. The Super 7 HD is essentially a giant spring with soft ends. The tapered and rockered tip and tail act as buffers to ease turn entry and exit, setting the stage for the powerful midsection to generate the energy that propels the ski up and over the turn transition.
The original Soul 7 debuted to instant stardom and it’s only gotten better since. We should say “better and better,” because the Soul 7 HD of today is the product of more than one makeover. Last season Rossi reconfigured the forebody into a structure it christened Air Tip 2.0. Add Air Tip 2.0 to Rossi’s long history of eye-catching visuals tied to compelling technical stories. Air Tip 2.0 has the same hypnotic effect as the first Soul 7’s translucent Koroyd tip, but it’s different in a couple of important ways. The 2019 Soul 7 HD’s shorter front rocker lets it roll on edge so quickly there’s barely time to notice that Air Tip 2.0 is calmer than its predecessors. The elongated camber pocket underfoot puts more edge in the snow for greater security in all snow conditions.
No Frontside ski can make the cut as a Power Pick if it can’t cope with speed. This isn’t an issue for the Hero +, which can trace its tech roots back to the Rossi Race Department. That’s where Line Control Technology (LCT) was born, a vertical strip of Titanal (named Power Rail) buffered in an elastic laminate. LCT has big shoes to fill. It’s playing the role usually reserved for twin laminates of Titanal, but with far less mass. A little lighter weight (the Hero + has an all-poplar core) and Prop Tech, which allows the ski to deflect slightly torsionally to preserve edge contact, help this quintessential carver feel quick edge to edge. It’s a gas to make short turns that are as tightly connected as pearls on a choker.
