The Rossignol Experience collection has been around for a long time now, although previously it just referred to the men’s skis, while the women’s skis were dubbed Temptation. For 2019, however, we get a women’s Experience line in which these all mountain skis have been completely redesigned in both shape and construction. The extended sidecut has been replaced with much more early taper in the tip and tail, as well as more pronounced rocker. The new construction revolves around Rossignol’s Line Control Technology. A vertical strip of metal is located in the center of the core of the ski, which also uses their Carbon Alloy Matrix material, called the HD Core Ti. This Experience 88 Ti W uses that high end core, is 88 mm underfoot, and is a very versatile all mountain ski. All these women tested the 166 cm length.
Katie Nichols loved it. How do we know? She started her test form comments by saying, “Love, love, love!” Katie gave the Experience 88 Ti W 5 out of 5 for every single category on our test form, although she did leave flotation blank as she was testing it mostly on firm snow. That’s fine with us. Katie described it as a super versatile ski, “ultimate cruiser, slush, everything! Playful, fun, stable, and quick.” Not many skis can be described using all those adjectives, and anything that can is a great ski.
We had a similar reaction from Jenny Lawson who wrote “fun, fun, fun right out of the gate!” Like Katie, Jenny also gave the new Experience 88 Ti W 5 out of 5 for every category. Those are crazy good scores that we rarely see. Jenny described it as “playful, held an edge, and turned well.” That’s a relatively basic description, but realistically what more can you ask for out of an all mountain ski?
Katrine Wolfgang was another tester that loved the Experience 88 Ti W. Her highest scores were 5 out of 5 for stability, quickness, playfulness, and torsional stiffness. Only forgiveness and versatility were given 4 out of 5. Katrine really liked the feel of the Experience 88 Ti W, commenting that the “ski turns really well, but seems to have a little float to it, which for me made the turns easier.” The new tip shape definitely helps the ski stay on top of softer, more variable snow conditions much better than the Temptation 88 HD that it’s replacing.
Pascale “loved this ski at high speeds!” She described it as “a big heavy, study 4×4.” We’ll add a note here that it’s not actually that heavy. Part of the benefit of Line Control Technology is that it reduces the amount of metal compared to traditional sandwich construction, which lightens up the ski. We think she’s mostly referring to the ski’s ability to plow through variable snow. “Fun and easy enough to get on edge, very stable.”
Susan Dorn described the Experience 88 Ti W in great detail. “Easy, forgiving, big sweet spot. Good for intermediate to expert. Can make a good skier into a great skier.” That’s an awesome description in our opinion. Any ski that feels like it’s helping you take your ability to the next level provides a really satisfying skiing experience. Susan thought it “performs well in all conditions. This ski can take a beating without tiring you out.”
We’re pretty psyched about these new all mountain skis from Rossignol. None of our testers dislikes it, by a long shot, which really says a lot about the ski overall. The Experience 88 Ti W is far more versatile than the previous Temptation 88 HD. Not only is it more versatile, but it also feels like it outperforms the Temptation in the areas in which that ski excelled. Great job, Rossignol!
