2021 Rossignol Hero Elite Plus Ti

[SkiTalk Test Team]

FairToMiddlin: Congratulations to Rossignol for the willingness to make a ski nobody else is trying to make. Sure, this spirit doesn’t always pan out, but it is also the beginning of every Next Best Thing. And it really is aiming in a different direction: yes, you can scour other ski makers' catalogs and find some skis that are 167 cm, 78 mm underfoot, with a 13m sidecut. But the others, all of them (near as I can tell, anyway) happen by accident, a byproduct of sizing down from the reference length. The 167 is Rossignol’s reference length, whatever comes after will be tweaks to the original, not the other way around. The rep I spoke to said it’s a ski for aging racers and instructors who want the shape of a high-performing SL without the bite of one, just a fraction of a Mississippi more leisurely from edge to edge.

It’s an apt description: rather than the usual frenetic wired-straight-to-your-brain-stem response of an SL, there’s half a heartbeat between the synapses, and then that familiar turn in shows up, followed by whoomp! as the ski loads up in the belly of the turn. The construction feels strong, and with good materials inside; motor through chopped-up groomers bases flat or on edge, and the Elite feels composed, not too short or too squirrely (compared to my SL skis, straightlining is much less disconcerting). Rossi retailers may have to explain this one a bit, and skiers might need an open-er mind to give them a try, but it’s well executed, and worth considering.

Review updated from 2020