2026 Rossignol Arcade 94 First Impressions & On Snow Review

There’s been quite a bit of hype and chatter already over the new 2026 Rossignol Sender Free 100, but there’s another new Rossignol ski for next season, the Arcade 94. This ski expands on the Arcade 84 and 88 that were new for 2025 and essentially replaces the Sender 94 Ti as Rossignol’s all-mountain option in the mid-90 width range. We spent quite a bit of time on it recently at an on-snow demo at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire and are excited to share our initial thoughts.

Before we get into our impressions, however, let’s talk about construction and how it fits into this new Arcade collection. The 84 and 88 while sharing similar shapes, have very different personalities. The 84 is playful and quick, with forgiving tips and tails. The 88is stiff, powerful, and for most skiers, somewhat unforgiving. The power it achieves is very impressive, but it’s not exactly easy, especially for intermediates. The new 94, rather than following a linear progression of performance, falls somewhere in between the 84 and 88 for performance. Not as stiff as the 88, but more robust than the 84. It has two layers of titanal, like the 88, but they’re not full length. Focused to the underfoot section, the tips and tails of the ski are left without metal. They’re also thinner in profile, and the combination of no metal and a thinner core profile creates a softer, more supple flex pattern in the tips and tails.

At a Glance:

2026 Rossignol Arcade 94 Skis

The shape, on the other hand, follows the same theme of the 84 and 88. There’s not much taper to this shape, which is nice and a great complement to the more freeride-focused Sender Soul and Sender Free skis. The 94 does, however, have a bit more rocker both in the tips and tails compared to the 88. That works in conjunction with the softer flex pattern. Instead of just feeling like a wider version of the 88, the 94 has notably more freeride or freeski influence in its feel on snow.

Over the course of six runs at Waterville Valley, Bob, Matt and I were left quite impressed. It’s strong underfoot and it’s something you can ski hard and aggressively, but it’s also more forgiving and more versatile than the 88. It’s a really nice mix of power and versatility, a great combination of attributes for a mid-90 all-mountain ski. There is excellent torsional stiffness and grip underfoot, but the softer tips and tails makes turn initiation and turn exit very smooth. It doesn’t ever feel teeth-clatteringly stiff, but you can still give it your all. All three of us also found it very intuitive, but with a high performance ceiling as well. The first turns feels easy, but as you learn to trust it and push it further, the ski responds accordingly.

If you look at the shape, your first impressions might be that it wouldn’t be particularly good in moguls or other off-piste terrain. If those are your thoughts, it’s very understandable. It’s certainly not as agile or as playful as the new Sender Free 100, but there’s a respectable amount of maneuverability and versatility for different snow conditions and terrain. Bob’s really good at skiing moguls, so it often feels unfair having him test a ski’s mogul performance, but Bob, Matt, and I all found similar capabilities. It’s supportive when you need it to be, but not too harsh or demanding when you need to throw it sideways.

Simply put, we think Rossignol did a great job with this new ski. It rounds out the Arcade collection nicely and gives us a great all-mountain option in this width. You’ve got a lot of choices from Rossignol right now, and that continues for 2026, but we think they’ve been successful in recent years simplifying and streamlining their ski collections, and with this new Arcade 94, that trend certainly continues. It won’t be available until the summer or fall, and until then, we’ll continue to ski it and test it in all sorts of different conditions and terrain.