Rossignol

River - I ski Snowmass/Ajax about as much as anywhere else, and want skis that compliment my Fury X-Wings (170 cm; 128-84-110). I'm looking for a soft ski with more floatation but really don't need a full-on powder ski and it sounds like the Soul 7 fits the bill very well. I'm 5' 10", 150 lbs and do a lot of tree and bump skiing so quickness is important. I'm over 50 and pretending I can still ski the steeps with style, but the only cliffs I'll be hucking are in my dreams. The 172 seems better for my weight, but the 180 has the obvious advantages of floatation and stability. I don't know if I'll be able to demo these - anyone have suggestions or advice??

Get the 180s. Rockered tip/tail skis ski short.

dude, get a Cham 107 and never look back, they have the tail you know and love

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Originally Posted by waxman

dude, get a Cham 107 and never look back, they have the tail you know and love

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Maybe, but the thread title isn't Dynastar.

Definitely don't go smaller than 180. 172 would be waayyyyy too small unless you are like 4 feet tall.

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Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Soul 7 hand flexed really stiff, but something tells me it's got that Rossi bounciness.

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Really? I flexed it thought it was softish...maybe I was doing it wrong.... Especially thought that honey comb tip seemed potentially flimsy.

The 172s will feel about the length of ski blades (snowlerblades in Teton Gnaralect, or perhaps "Big Foots" for OP). The 180s will at least feel as long as a junior slalom ski.

I'd go for the 180s with your stats. You can probably go longer, but don't go shorter.

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Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Soul 7 hand flexed really stiff

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Huh? I'll 2nd volklpowdermaniac - either the flex pattern of the pair you were fondling was off by a lot, or ... I can't think of anything to write after the word 'or'.

Also, the Soul 7 and the Experience 98 occupy way, way different ends of the spectrum. If you're serious about "railing GS turns through thick and thin," then the 188cm Experience 98 is very much the ticket, and the Soul will leave you very disappointed. Again, if you're serious about that, and if you're serious about getting "power out of the tail."

Also, having skied both the 188 Experience 98 and having just skied and reviewed the Soul 7, there is zero chance that someone who is 5'11", 190 lbs. and looking to charge, or who likes a ski with a powerful tail ought to be considering anything less than the 188 Soul. They weigh 2000 grams per ski and are dead easy.

Yeah and that being said, I don't understand why the squad 7 wouldn't be the perfect compliment to the wailer. You get the best combination of all the attributes of the other rossi skis being discussed, you get the playfulness of the other S 7's but with the lower profile rocker/camber combo, the more powerful tail, and the ability to rail through almost anything... That's the only thing you'd sacrifice against the experience 98,,the ability to really charge hard through heavier chunder. In pow day leftovers they are fine. If you can't deal with that, then super's or soul's are really gonna dissapoint you at your size...At least with the squads you get a fatter, chargier, but still relatively nimble and forgiving pow ski than the wailer and it sure aint gonna hold you back much maching on groomers or schralpin around on the chalk.

Squad is the only ski that will outshine your wailer, super and soul are just wailer clones with different widths. I had the same option this winter and didn't bother with any of them.

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Originally Posted by JFE24

Huh? I'll 2nd volklpowdermaniac - either the flex pattern of the pair you were fondling was off by a lot, or ... I can't think of anything to write after the word 'or'.

Also, the Soul 7 and the Experience 98 occupy way, way different ends of the spectrum. If you're serious about "railing GS turns through thick and thin," then the 188cm Experience 98 is very much the ticket, and the Soul will leave you very disappointed. Again, if you're serious about that, and if you're serious about getting "power out of the tail."

Also, having skied both the 188 Experience 98 and having just skied and reviewed the Soul 7, there is zero chance that someone who is 5'11", 190 lbs. and looking to charge, or who likes a ski with a powerful tail ought to be considering anything less than the 188 Soul. They weigh 2000 grams per ski and are dead easy.

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I'd love to here more from you on your experience with the Soul 7. After I flexed it and with the small sidecut, i felt like despite the new tail, while it's going to be a great ski, it might lack a little in the speed and crud busting department... NOT that it's designed to be, but there are skis I feel like that do playful and still have a touch of charge to them. I read the review on Blister but wanted more... I ended up going with a Blizzard ski, the peacemaker, which while lacking metal, I'm hoping has some of that Blizzard stability, and is still fun. Similar to a skinnier 13-14 gunsmoke (not 12-13)... in fact i'm shocked there isn't a thread on the Soul 7 to itself yet

I looked back at the original post, and I wasn't clear enough - the idea is to retire to Wailer for uphill use. Given that, I want a floatier but still carvable ski. Make sense?

"Playful charger" to me = 190 Bibby Pro. That's my reference ski. And while I don't expect the Peacemaker to offer as much as the Bibby on the "charger" side of things, I suspect (given what you're looking for) that it might be the better call than the Soul 7. (We'll get on the Peacemaker when the resorts open up.)

What gets me scratching my head is that, Rossi made a decision to "Go Light" on the whole Seven series line - including the now lighter Squad 7 - and people are still expecting these to rail through chop? The Soul 7 is super intuitive and quick and easy, and will be a good soft snow ski & a pretty good pow ski for only being 108 underfoot. "A touch of charge" ? Sure - especially the lighter you are.

Riverdown: check out my review on blister if you haven't already. The Soul 7 will carve groomers well, it's just not built to "rail" through variable snow, and shouldn't be expected to. I haven't skied a better 98mm underfoot ski on groomers than the 188cm Experience 98, but it won't float like the Soul 7. I think you'll have to decide where you're willing to compromise.

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Originally Posted by volklpowdermaniac

I'd love to here more from you on your experience with the Soul 7. After I flexed it and with the small sidecut, i felt like despite the new tail, while it's going to be a great ski, it might lack a little in the speed and crud busting department... NOT that it's designed to be, but there are skis I feel like that do playful and still have a touch of charge to them. I read the review on Blister but wanted more... I ended up going with a Blizzard ski, the peacemaker, which while lacking metal, I'm hoping has some of that Blizzard stability, and is still fun. Similar to a skinnier 13-14 gunsmoke (not 12-13)... in fact i'm shocked there isn't a thread on the Soul 7 to itself yet

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Originally Posted by JFE24

"Playful charger" to me = 190 Bibby Pro. That's my reference ski. And while I don't expect the Peacemaker to offer as much as the Bibby on the "charger" side of things, I suspect (given what you're looking for) that it might be the better call than the Soul 7. (We'll get on the Peacemaker when the resorts open up.)

What gets me scratching my head is that, Rossi made a decision to "Go Light" on the whole Seven series line - including the now lighter Squad 7 - and people are still expecting these to rail through chop? The Soul 7 is super intuitive and quick and easy, and will be a good soft snow ski & a pretty good pow ski for only being 108 underfoot. "A touch of charge" ? Sure - especially the lighter you are.

Riverdown: check out my review on blister if you haven't already. The Soul 7 will carve groomers well, it's just not built to "rail" through variable snow, and shouldn't be expected to. I haven't skied a better 98mm underfoot ski on groomers than the 188cm Experience 98, but it won't float like the Soul 7. I think you'll have to decide where you're willing to compromise.

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Not to dick this up with non-rossi stuff, but it was my understanding that Blizzard, on a whole, while different in each ski has a reputation for slightly more stability? Can't wait to see your thoughts on Peacemaker, and can't wait to get on it my self.

Now back to rossi.

River, I'll agree with JFE on the size and temperament of the Soul 7 and Exp 98. I've got a lot of days on multiple pairs of Exp 98' daily driver. The 98 will rock everywhere, except deep and bumps. The Soul is going to be quicker and surfier and easier, don't be afraid to go long, the reduction of weight on the outboard end of the skis makes em quick..

Thread jack-

Planning on getting some Experience 98's for no snow days, patrolling and skiing groomers. They won't see that much soft snow so pow performance isn't much of a big deal.

I am pretty set on these or maybe Mantra's but I found a pair of new Ex 98's for $350...only problem is they are 180cm. I was thinking of getting the 188's.

I am 185lbs ish, skis at the moment are 190cm Lotus 120's (best ski ever) 188 Wailer 105's, 188 Prior Husume's. Previous skis 186 Praxis Freeride, 186 Movement Trust so all in the 186-190 range.

Am I getting hung up on 8cm? I probably won't even notice eh.....? Is it all in my head?

Sorry to Hijack but there is potentially some good info on the ex98's here.

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Originally Posted by rob stokes

Thread jack-

Planning on getting some Experience 98's for no snow days, patrolling and skiing groomers. They won't see that much soft snow so pow performance isn't much of a big deal.

I am pretty set on these or maybe Mantra's but I found a pair of new Ex 98's for $350...only problem is they are 180cm. I was thinking of getting the 188's.

I am 185lbs ish, skis at the moment are 190cm Lotus 120's (best ski ever) 188 Wailer 105's, 188 Prior Husume's. Previous skis 186 Praxis Freeride, 186 Movement Trust so all in the 186-190 range.

Am I getting hung up on 8cm? I probably won't even notice eh.....? Is it all in my head?

Sorry to Hijack but there is potentially some good info on the ex98's here.

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depends, if it is truly a work ski, then i wouldn't hesitate to go with shorter size. I imagine patrolling you would have to trudge through a lot of shit doing avy work and responding to calls, and doing early season set up.... it might not be bad to have something short to throw around real quick and not think about. if you have other beaters and want this for performance...might go longer

The 180 Exp 98 has plenty of life and when I said earlier not great in deep, I meant deep. Skis great in 6". The 180 should be fine.especially for work. This is a performance ski, it's laid up inside very similarly to the gs race ski. It'll probably be better suited to your task in the 180 than the 188.

The 180 E98 skis short (or at least that's what it felt like to me) and when I was mounted on the line I experienced a lot of tip dive. But when I set the mounting point back 2 cm this eliminated the tips submarining under the snow. The E98 in 188 skied true to size. I think the guys at blister nailed it with their review. Check it out if you haven't read it yet.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using TGR Forums

Cheers guys-still not 100% but will probably grab a pair-they are cheep after all. Besides most of my other skis have been twins so a 180cm with a flat tail is probably not too far off the running length of a 188 twin.

Thanks.

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What gets me scratching my head is that, Rossi made a decision to "Go Light" on the whole Seven series line - including the now lighter Squad 7 - and people are still expecting these to rail through chop?

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Exactly why I jumped on a pair of last years for 320$...It seems like Rossi is taking the gamble that the new lineup will be great "intuitive" skis for the average mid weight weekend warrior right from the first turn, which is great, but I still wish they made a slightly longer, slightly stiffer in the tips version of last year's nearly perfect squad 7... The Squad 7 is an easy enough ski, it just lacks a little at the top end of crud performance even for this 175 lb bag of bones, so it would have been nice of them to round out the lineup with a "super squad 7" of sorts. I have already heard from a reputable source that the new honeycomb tip squads are floppier than the originals, which is not the direction that ski needed to go.

Tone,
Care to share your take on last years Squads? Where did you mount them? I picked up a pair from start haus for $320 as well. Stoked! I am a bit indecisive about the mount point..... Im a 6'2" 220 45+ old school charger that likes to ski fast and in the fall line, Alaska coastal snow, average 50 days a season. Last few years have been spent on XXLs, RC112s, Lotus 120's and Lhasa pows.... Love my Lhasa's just wanted to try fatter with less pintail and more forgiving on my old knees than the 112's or XXL's.

I think they are great for my size but could see how they would be lacking for someone much bigger that really wants to charge...It seems like on the line was right on for my size and style but I think the consensus was -2 for bigger dudes. Maybe they wouldn't be the floatiest for someone your size in deep and light, but coastal snow they should do you fine. I was coming off a nasty knee injury last year as well and was worried that they'd be too much but not at all the case. I feel like they are a great "nimble charger", huge versatillity in turn shape and size in pow, you can mach looney GS turns and then shut it down in an instant...Great hard snow performance as far as I am concerned, they will carve firm groomers just like a traditional ski and pivot/slarve around on steep chalk like butter.

The only let down was that the tips are a little floppy for charging full on in heavier more set up crud, but that is a compromise worth the trade off for me. Yeah there are alot of great skis out there that probably do it all and then some but for $320?