In case anyone is interested in a ski like this, here's a quick review of the Rossi's that I rented last week in Nakiska.
Rossignol Zenith Z10, all mountain; Sidecut: 126/74/105; Radius: 170cm = r14.8; I skied them in a 170.
I was pleasantly surprised by these. All the reviews I'd read about the Rossi Zenith line were either lukewarm or they downright panned them. So I wasn't expecting great things, but Hey, they were the best that I could find in the area (the only alternative being beginner-level rental junk).
They really wanted to turn -- just rolled 'em on edge and around they went. Not as versatile as my SS Speeds in that when they were in a turn, it was harder to change direction or turn radius. My Speeds go wherever I want them to -- with the Rossi's I wasn't exactly locked in a turn, but it took more effort to get them to maneuver. Still, they were pretty good, and fun to make turns with. Reasonably quick edge-to-edge, too.
Edge hold was so-so, but this seemed to partly be due to tune -- they didn't seem very sharp, and skidded a lot on hardpack. Wax was crappy too -- the usual universal all-temp wax in the rental shop pots. It was cold that day (-25 deg. C), and the wax was not zippy at all. This didn't matter too much once I got them going on a fast run, but getting them started showed the poor glide.
What I really liked about them was their stability -- these things were solid. Very stable and confidence-inspiring. Nothing squirrely or jumpy about them. Might have been the wider waist than I'm used to, but they were also quite heavy and very damp, which certainly helped in the stability department. Swing weight, though, was surprisingly light for a heavy solid ski.
But while I liked their stability, the trade-off for that seemed to be their excessive dampness. They just seemed kind of dead underfoot. None of the fun liveliness that I'm used to with the Heads, and Heads aren't exactly known for being the most lively either.
So overall, a great ski for an intermediate learning technique, as they will not throw you around in the rough stuff, are easy to turn, quite forgiving and very stable. I felt I could easily take them down some steep and challenging slopes, and they would hold on and be there for me. As I said -- confidence inspiring. They seemed well made, and decent quality. But, for me, they were just not a lot of fun. Kind of dull and boring, and made the day kind of plod along, rather than give me some YeeHaw! moments.
I guess what impressed me the most was how quick and easy to turn a wider ski could be. I've never skied on anything wider than 70mm, and while these weren't exactly powder boards, they were certainly quicker edge-to-edge than I expected. One more bias shot down.
Nice....
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