It’s a natural impulse to compare any ski to the model that immediately preceded it in the same family, so the arrival of Rossignol new Famous 10 invites one to contrast it with the Unique 10 that came before.
The two skis are surprisingly quite different. The Famous 10 has considerably deepened its sidecut to accentuate carving action and short-turn facility. The new ski’s construction trades the Unique 10’s Air Core for an all-Paulownia core supporting the same Sandwich Duracap design used in the men’s Pursuit series.
If the Cira were a young heroine in a Disney movie, her tale would begin with an underprivileged youth. Judged by how she appeared on paper, with her simple components humbly assembled, Cira faces an uphill battle for acceptance. She’s told to do the jobs other skis won’t, like spend time carving out the inside of a slow-motion arc. People begin to notice that she’s a natural.
A skilled technician pulls Cira aside and offers to mentor her. While her gently rockered forebody made her hesitant at first, Cira quickly adapted to being tipped and pressured like a sophisticated carving ski with expensive appurtenances like Titanal and carbon fiber. The plucky Cira, undeterred by her presumed disadvantages, goes on to compete against the best women’s Frontside skis in the world and, while she doesn’t win, she proves to everyone what’s she made of: spunk, skill and a heart of gold. Curtain; roll credits. Oscar, please.
If the Confession feels guilty, it might be because it knows where all the bodies are buried. With two sheets of Titanal in its guts it doesn’t so much float as burrow, blasting its way through wind crust, spring porridge or ragged crud. After a run on the Confession, you’re looking for other worlds to conquer. It’s like have an army of earthmovers on each foot, rolling over once powdery pastures and turning them into pavement.
As befits the AME class, the Brahma is at its best when lingering near the border of powder and prepared slopes. Its ability to shift on the fly to 4-wheel drive is attributable to the subtly of its Flip Core tip rocker. Like any elevated shovel, the Brahma’s tip will find a way over whatever lies ahead, but unlike most models with this much rocker, it remains in contact with all snow surfaces, not just powder. Even on hardpack, the built-to-be-rockered Flip Core forebody is unflappable.
