I had to go for a business meeting to a ski resort called Himos, in central Finland. The schedule was pretty tight and much of it was spent consuming signifigant amount of alcohol. I also had borrowed telemark skis under me, and I could tell you the (novice) telemarking was not that fun under the prevailing conditions…

However, in the afternoon I was luckily able to test some 07/08 Rossignol skis. The slopes of Himos are not too high but it is still a first place up north where we can can have some pretty decent turns (instead of local hills nearby that only serve well for park stuff) So, I took the opportunity to test a couple of skis and here is the brief review from pretty sloppy conditions (of both the slopes and the skier!)

Slopes of Himos (picture source: http://www.mtv3.fi)

First, the obligatory description of the reviewer:

Height/weight: 184cm (~6feet) 83kg (~160lbs)

Ability: Very experienced, not the best or most modern carve/on-piste technique though. Can do basic moves in the park. Mogul background. Likes medium to large radius turns on soft snow and some small to medium sized airs when the landings are good.

Age: 34

Days/year: Currently ~30/year (but skied several years over 50 days a year)

Conditions: Quite bad, chunky uneven hard pack with occasional soft(er) moguls and paths of soft, granular type of new snow here and there (but only like 2-3cm = about an inch)

Resort: http://www.himos.fi

Rossignol B 100 Quad, 184cm

(Picture source: http://www.shopkirkwood.com )

- Heavy, felt like a totally bombproof contruction (just an impression, can’t say anything about the real durability)

- Long shark nose that probably is great in powder and won’t hook up in crud

- No twin - only a very slight flare. I’m a fan of twin tips but occasionally a feel of square tailed, “real” ski is very nice!

- Rossignol states that the radius of the skis in 25m - but it felt larger. Barely carved turns on the said hill, I had to really take up some speed at first (an when that happened I was actually over the half way from top to bottom).

- Old school pivoted/slided turns felt great on the crappy conditions prevailing. I think that these skis would kill all kinds of “tricky snow” - very predictable touch

- Kind of lazy feeling, no clear “pop” from turns to turns (ok, I was lazy as it gets on the day, so take that with a grain of salt…), coudn’t test the real speed limit but the skis felt great at speed, on the few real turns I could milk from the said hill

- Softer than I expected (compared to the very stiff B-Squad 104’s)…probably the same or just a tad stiffer than newer Gotamas

- I didn’t get too exited though.It felt like this ski is a “work horse” type - does everything you want but not didn’t provided anything really exiting (could be agood thing too if you want a ski that just does it job)

- If I could choose I probably would take these to the steep couloirs and/or busting crud on smaller hills…for a bit smaller skier I guess this would be a great big mountain ski for varying conditions

- Personally, as an ex-owner of Head Supermojos (or Im103 as the model was named back then), I have to say I like skis with a bit more turny feel…and also have a growing interest on floaty, surfy rockered skis for soft snow. Straight, stiff, old school GS/SG feel, wide skis are really good for the job they are intented for but also a bit dull IMHO

The author on his former Head Im103’s…great ski but lacked a bit playfullness!

Bandit B 94 (185cm)

(Picture source: http://greatadventuresports.com)

- After skiing the Quad 100’s I was waiting these to be more fun and energetic

- I only took two runs on these (and same conditions holding again)

- Still, I didn’t liked this ski too much:

- Felt much softer than the Quad 100

- Dead and lazy feeling but chattered on GS turns at speed

- Could probably be an OK short, fall-line turner or nimble ski in tight situations (trees, chutes) for a lighter or not so agressive skier - anyway I felt like I could either overpower and/or break the speed limit (too easily) with these skis. A clear disappointment, I have to say…

Not the greatest or most in depth review this time - but some quick impressions.

Stay tuned, I’ll try to post some videos from a great park session about a week ago soon…