Rossignol: Phantom SC80 Freeride Skis

You don't flinch over a chute of hardpack--and your skis shouldn't either. That's why we like the rugged, easy-turning Phantom SC80 from Rossignol. It's an all-mountain performance platform oriented for 60% untracked and 40% groomed. With a slightly narrower waist than the Phantom SC87, this ski is still ideal for powder hunters, but the dimensions give you the flexibility of making edge-to-edge turns on bruising boilerplate without a lot of sliding. It features a lively wood core for excellent feedback and superb power transmission from your boots to your ski edges. Up front you'll find Rossignol's distinct (almost classic now) Shark Nose tip with an aluminum insert added for better torsional rigidity. This additional reinforcement helps keep the nose steady at high speeds, even when you're blasting through the broken crud that others left in the backcountry weeks ago. To dampen vibration throughout the length of the ski, the Phantom SC80 has two layers of titanium inside the modern sandwich construction, so you enjoy the stability without a lot of excess weight--and weight is always a key factor if you have to hike up part of the mountain to reach the back bowls. The Phantom SC80 is an easy choice for those who want a quiver-of-one, all-terrain ski that grips well in the steep places where ice and untracked snow are always in equal amounts.

• A durable, all-mountain ski for advanced and expert skiers who take the sketchiest routes and need a ski that grips on hardpack
• Rossignol recommends this for 60% untracked/40% tracked
• Dimensions (tip/waist/tail): 122/80/109 mm. in 185-cm. length
• Turn radius: 17.2 m. in 185-cm. length
• Single-camber profile (that's what the SC stands for)
• Lively wood core with rugged and lightweight titanium laminate