2021 Rossignol BC 80 Positrack

The lifted pickup truck or the Jeep of the ski world, the Rossignol BC 80 skis are an ideal choice for adventurous and fun-loving skiers all over the world. These wide-bodied backcountry beauties are tbe perfect off-track choice for skiers who spend most of their time exploring the woods and discovering new trails and routes through the forest and up and over the mountains. Rossignol has been building some sweet backcountry and touring skis for a while now, so it’s kind of implied that you’re getting the best gear out there. But over the past few years, skis like these have really taken off, allowing skiers to access more, better, and more beautiful terrain and landscapes than they ever thought possible. We pair these skis with an NNN BC binding, and when that’s paired with an appropriate BC boot, you’re pretty much unstoppable out there.

AT 80 mm in the tip, these skis are ready for adventure and fresh snow, but the overall shape is still on the efficient side. Other than the shape, these skis differ from the 65’s in that they have skin fixations on the tip, so for skiers looking for that extra traction can look to attach a Rossi BC 80 skin to the ski, and you’ll pretty much be able to climb up anything. Built with a wood air core that has some strategic zones with milled-out areas, the BC 80 has a fantastic combination of light weight and performance. Also, in compared to the narrower (and wider) skis in the BC line, the 80 has the width-appropriate camber—lower than the 65 but higher than the 100, allowing for the proper grip to response ratio for both in and out of bounds skiing. It’s this type of performance that allows for pure exploration and discovery out there, and in a place like Vermont, where we get to test these skis, it really fits well. There’s endless trails to explore, and most of them can be accessed from a touring center or the end of a logging road, allowing skiers to really maximize their time spend outside.

Full-steel edges and positrack grip round out this fantastic package, and these two technologies really add to the confidence-inspiring character of the BC 80. When you’re going up a straight and flat hill, you don’t really notice that you have metal edges on the skis, but when you start side hilling and going downhill, you’re sure to not only notice, but also appreciate the fact that you have something to hold tight to. If you’ve ever tried to side hill on a normal touring ski with no edges, you know what it feels like to slide out of control, and sideways. There’s none of that on the BC 80. The Positrack grip is basically a more aggressive fish scale pattern, that has a longer length to it for better climbing ability. This, of course, eats into the glide, but for the application of these skis and most skiers looking for this type of performance, that added grip for the climb is a good thing for sure.

If you’re looking for out-of-bounds adventure with precision and performance, there’s not much out there that can match the versatility and well-roundedness of these skis. For such a simple concept, the BC 80 can cover a lot of ground, and make a lot of skiers happy in the process. More grippy than fast, these touring specialists will love to take you wherever you want to go.