Last year, Rossignol completely overhauled its keystone Experience series, re-defining its target customers as recreational skiers who want to take in the entire resort experience, of which skiing is but a part. They’ll spend most of the day on groomed slopes, but want a ski that will allow them to travel off to the side of the trail should conditions be favorable. They expect quality and performance, but they’re not looking to stretch the performance envelope as much as stay comfortably inside it. It’s unisex counterpart, the Experience 82 Ti, is the highest rated Finesse ski in the Frontside genre, a strong indication the women’s version will exude the same properties.
The Experience (EXP, for short) 82 Ti W is all about ease. While its sidecut favors short turns (13m @ 159cm), they’re not of the high-twitch, trench-digger variety, but more languid, rolling smoothly on and off the edge under a light rein.
Every so often a ski maker screws up and makes a ski that’s considerably better than it needs to be. Salomon removed half the Titanal from its pricier (and wider) Stances to extend the Stance family down to the $499 price point, intending to drop the performance level to fit the target skier’s performance expectations.
Instead, it exceeded them. The Ti-C Frame Single Ti construction delivers a connected, carved turn that won’t wilt on crisp, early morning corduroy even when driven with an open throttle. It’s unlikely that many experts will slum it in the bargain basement where the Stance W 84 dwells, but they’d be gob-smacked it they did. For the intermediate who is its most likely operator, the Stance W 84 provides a performance ceiling that will most likely never be taxed.
When ski makers start from scratch to make a women’s ski, the usual target isn’t the most talented lass, but those less likely to succeed without a little help. All the features that make the Wild Belle DC 84 adapted for women are attuned in particular to ladies who are still ascending the learning curve. It’s cushioned Double Core, two-tiered binding platform and soft, round flex all work to promote better balance and reduced effort on the part of someone still learning the ropes.
The “DC” in the Wild Belle DC 84 stands for Double Core, its tip-to-tail damping technology that inserts a rubber mat between the upper and lower poplar and beech cores. The core makes a ski that’s supple and damp, with a sidecut that promotes early turn entry and a gentle release. Its whole shtick is making a smooth, carved turn on groomed slopes while the pilot operates from a comfortable stance.
When the fabulous Kim Beekman opined in her review of 20/21’s season’s evolv 84 W that it “definitely prefers to mach the groomed at eye-watering speeds,” she had her finger on what makes the evolv 84w special. Even though it belongs to an all-mountain family of which it is the narrowest member, it behaves as if it has a carving obsession. Over the 21/22off-season, Liberty encouraged this behavior by adding a third aluminum strut to its Vertical Metal Technology core.
Which is why the 22/23 evolv 84w has a distinct, carving-ski feel with a fall-line disposition. Short turns tend to be shallow, keeping close to the shortest path downhill. If you want it to head cross-hill, get forward and drive the evolv 84w as you would a race ski. As the sublimely powerful Megan Ochs somewhat cryptically encapsulated its personality, “this ski skied like a stiffer ski than what it actually is. Well done,” said the demanding Ms. Ochs, who, BTW, is a power-lifter strong enough to bend an I-beam.
It’s instructive that the 99 Ti is the widest women’s Mindbender with Titanal Y-Beam; the next widest Mindbender, the 106 C W, uses carbon as its principal structural element, as does the 115 C W. This underscores the dividing line between a true all-terrain, in-resort ski like the MB 99 Ti W that will spend roughly half its life on hard snow, and a powder-specific board like the 106 C that could double as a sidecountry touring model. The metal that makes the 99 Ti W proficient on rock-hard groomers would add so much mass to a 106 it would be hard to push around off-trail and murder for climbing. Expert women who want an everyday, all-condition ski for in-bounds skiing should opt for the MB 99 Ti W and leave the wider Mindbenders for the rare powder day.
It bears mention that a skier of limited skills and off-trail experience probably shouldn’t be on a ski as wide as 99mm underfoot, and probably would be better served by a carbon chassis with minimal metal in its make-up, like the K2 Mindbender 90 C W. Which isn’t a diss – a 99-waisted ski that sells for $900 should shift its suitability to meet the expectations of experts. Which is just what K2 has done.
