Rossignol Radical World Cup GS Masters (174cm)

I finally was able to ski on my Radical WC GS Masters this past week.  At this point of I will give a limited review of this ski as I have only been able to ski with them on ideal packed powder conditions on a small hill.

I believe that this ski will become my new all-time favorite all around front-side ski.  For the power that the ski can generate in a turn, its turn initiation is really easy.  This ski initiates a turn nearly as easy as my Rossignol Radical S slalom skis, but at the same time does not have an issue with running straight.  This is something that can not be said about the Radical S which only wants to be turning.  Stability of the GS Masters is exceptional at the highest speeds that I could obtain on the little hill that I ski on (40-50 mph range).  I will further further comment once I use this ski on a larger slope.  The GS Masters does well on fore and aft body movement being somewhat forgiving if you get a little to the back seat and at a 174 cm length there is something up front if you get pitched forward.  However be prepared, if you load up the ski as it can generate a monstrous amount of power.  You can easily vary the radius of the turns, even in the middle of the turn.  Even though this is a GS ski, you could probably carve through an open section of a slalom course as you can initiate quick short radius turns at its design radius of 18 meters.  On packed powder this ski is a great carving machine that can generate a lot of speed.  I have not yet used the skis on ice or in a race course and I will provide comments once I have done so.  I have yet to find a weakness with the ski.  If you are a advanced skier or better, you can ski it easy and it does not complain or try to bite you  or you can get very aggressive and release all its pent up power!  The only negative I have is that it is a very expensive ski and since it is in limited production you probably will not find a pair to demo.  So you will have to risk big bucks on a ski that may not suit your requirements.  Fortunately for me, at this point I love it!  This ski for me is a significant step up in performance and capability over the ski it replaces, the Fisher RC4 World Cup RC's (175cm).

From a reference standpoint, I am very aggressive, high level skier at 5' 9" and 172 lbs.  I am a PSIA level 2 ski instructor (with 39 years of experience), an USSA race coach and club racer (Nastar National handicap varying between 12 to 14).

I finally used the skis in two regional "club" level GS races.  The grip, ease of turn initiation and the power through the turns was amazing.  The stiffness of the skis caused some issues going through some cross ruts from an earlier slalom course (you had to make sure that you were very centered over the skis when you hit the cross ruts) but that is the only thing I could think of that was less than ideal.  I am still getting used to how quick the turn initiation is.  I hooked a gate a few weeks ago in practice because of this quickness.  I have been working very hard at several elements of my turns so I can;t say how much of my improvement was from the skis versus "better skiing" but I finished 2nd overall in the second race after finishing 6th overall in the first race (1st and 2nd, respectfully in my age bracket).  This was a significant improvement over the results from this event last year where I finished outside of the top ten.

I continue to love these skis as a general front-side ski.  Still the best overall front-side ski I have owned.  a little stiff for moguls, but workable, but they handled crud really well. You can easily skid them if you want but they really like to carve and run fast!  However, because of how great they felt on the race course, I am going to limit the general use and save the wear and tear!

I spoke with the Rossignol rep out of Michigan and he indicated that the skis will be more available next year with the addition of a +180 cm size.  I am not sure how "official" that information is, but I thought I would pass it on.

Final tally on the Radical World Cup GS Masters for the year:

First ever overall club race win in GS (all age groups), previous best was a third.

A second (first in age group) and and two sixths (second and third in age group) in regional club races, previous best was a seventh.

Third overall for the season in the club GS standings, previous best was sixth.

First in my age group in the Seven Springs Super G (yes Super G though a 174 was a little on the short side but the edging power was fantastic), previous best was second.

(the club is pretty decent as it ranks 16th among all NASTAR clubs)

In addition lowered my National NASTAR handicap down to 9.71 from 14.78.

To give you another perspective, my slalom racing only marginally improved.

In addition besides being a great race ski, it is a great all around front-side ski!

My final recommendation, if you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Michigan, only buy this ski for free skiing, I don't want any of my competition racing on this ski.  If you live anywhere else, when it becomes available again next year, I would heavily recommend that you consider it!