I just bought a pair of Rossi Exp 82 TI skis and was able to use them this past weekend. Before I Get to the ski, a little background. 69 years old, been skiing for 53 years averaging 20-25 days a year. I have some race background and know how to carve as well moguls. I still ski double black diamonds at the big resorts, however that is not what I bought those skis for.
I bought these for my local skiing in the mid Atlantic region. Think Holiday Valley in NY or Seven Springs in PA. Mostly firm man made snow with occasional dumps for some softer snow. I believe that a ski in the 78-84 underfoot is the sweet spot, and for my 5’8” frame a 170 cm + or - 2cm. I also believe most folks buy to wide but that is another discussion. I also like a versatile high performance ski aka all mountain as I will seek out the better snow on the trail edge and dive into the trees if conditions permit.
I had been skiing Volkl’s entry in this category for almost 20 years starting with the Vertigo Motion, which morphed into the AX3 724, then AC30, RTM 81 (both versions) and most recently Deacon 80. With each version, Volkl was moving that series towards carving and away from the all mountain skis that I like. I never bonded with my Deacons. They were fantastic carvers, almost a wide race ski. But transitioning between hard and soft snow, managing crud and bumps are not it’s strong suit. So I sold them.
Now for the review. I debated which length to get. 168 or 176. I have 3 pairs of wider all mountain skis all 180, so I chose the 168 for its intended purpose, smaller hills. I had Tyrolia Protector 13 bindings mounted. The first day I skied them conditions were marginal at best. Flat light, icy, death cookies and snow whales. I bailed after a couple hours but came away impressed. Very quick turning with good underfoot feel and handled the crud.
Two days later after about 6” of fresh, plus more man made and grooming the whales down I was able to get a better test. These skis rock! They turn almost as quick as my Volkl RT SL skis and is much better in transitioning between snow types. They feel light on your feet and allowed me to choose any turn shape I wanted and never protested. They were forgiving of minor technical errors and we’re just a blast to ski. With only limited terrain open, I couldn’t test them at higher speeds, but in the 25-30 mph range they felt very secure. Trees were out of the question as were bumps. I will have to save that test for another day.
So after 2 days of limited skiing, I believe I made a good choice. I really enjoyed these skis. If you are looking for a 80’ish width all mountain ski that can also carve well, you should take a good hard look at these skis.
Rick G