A few seasons ago Rossignol introduced a somewhat secret ski called the Black Ops. It was a wide, rockered powder ski developed with Chris Logan and Parker White, two of their premiere freeski athletes. Now we have a narrower Black Ops 98, which is, you guessed it, 98 mm under foot. You won’t find this ski in Rossignol’s catalog, and you won’t find too much information on it elsewhere on the interwebs or at your local shop. Luckily we had four testers put this new all mountain twin tip to the test to see what it’s all about. If it’s anything like the wider ski, it should be a whole lot of fun. All of these testers were skiing a 182 cm Black Ops 98.
Jake Inger described it as a “very playful park and all mountain ski,” which is just about exactly what we were expecting to hear. Jake gave it high scores for flotation, playfulness, forgiveness, versatility, and overall impression. He thought it would be “great for intermediates all the way up to the advanced/expert level. It ended up being able to hold an edge very well.” That’s an impressive compliment for a ski that’s designed to be a playful all mountain twin; very often skis in this category have sub-par edge grip.
Marcus Shakun thought the 182 cm length was a little short for him, but seemed to really enjoy the Black Ops 98 regardless. He gave it the highest scores for playfulness and forgiveness, which aligns nicely with Jake’s response. “Soft tips and tails with a damp flex. Allows the ski to plow through soft snow and crud.” That’s really good feedback from Marcus. Sometimes a soft flexing ski can feel twitchy and get deflected easily, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case with the Black Ops 98. Marcus went on to say that it likes to make “long smooth turns” and did mention that he thought it “smears better than locking into a turn.” That makes sense considering it uses tail rocker, although keep in mind that Jake did find it held an edge well, so there’s a chance Marcus was pushing the 182 cm past its limits.
Caroline Kessler actually found the Black Ops 98 made short turns quite well for her. Combine that with Marcus’ reaction and his feedback that it smears easily, and it sounds like the Black Ops 98 is the type of ski that’s willing to make a lot of different turn shapes and sizes. “Quick turning, better at shorter radius turns, but able to open up and rip. Edge holds well, but you’ve got to work a bit to keep it on edge with longer, faster turns.” It might not have the stability of a stiffer, directional all mountain ski, but the Black Ops 98 seems like it can handle some pretty aggressive skiing. “Solid all mountain ski for someone that likes to duck in the park and be playful around the whole mountain.”
Hans von Briesen was another tester to notice the relatively damp feel. He described it as “damp, forgiving, and ready. Not snappy, but able to be maneuvered quickly edge to edge. Variable turn shape allows for versatility.” There it is again; that variable turn shape keeps coming up. Seems as though it’s pretty easy to manipulate turn shape on the Black Ops. Hans really thought the highlight was the ski’s performance in soft snow, ending his feedback by saying it “should not be relegated to the frontside exclusively.”
The Rossignol Black Ops 98 is a nice addition to the Rossignol collection. It gives park skiers a nice wide all mountain ski that can handle the whole mountain, while it also gives non-park skiers an alternative choice to the Experience collection or Sky 7 HD. It definitely has a different feel than those skis, with a unique flex pattern, a damp feel, and an emphasis on playful, fun performance.
