Ladies who are looking to make the most out of their soft snow days will love the overall poise and performance of these sweet skis. There’s a lot to like about a responsive and directional ski in the ~100 mm category, and Rossignol’s Rallybird 102 is one of the best of the group. With a flat tail, a floaty tip, and great grip underfoot, this ski skirts around normal labels and creates something of its own. The Rallybird 102 is an awesome choice for advanced and expert ladies who are looking for a wider-bodied all-mountain ski for softer snow days but also want that width and shovel to be amenable to off-piste adventures, powder, trees, and more technical terrain. While 102 may seem a bit wide for most on-trail applications, it’s still got an impressive amount of grip and energy, mainly due to the blending of shape, profile, and construction. While the lighter weight keeps the ski a bit more open for progressing intermediates, it’s still a pretty stiff ski that’ll get better results on the feet of more advanced and expert skiers.

It all starts with a paulownia wood core. This wood is mainly used in skis that are supposed to be light like touring skis but it has a lot of applications elsewhere, especially if it’s bolstered by other materials for energy and stability. In the case of the Rallybird 102, we also get dual LCT struts that keep the central spine of the ski stiffer and more damp. By taking flexible Visco material and placing it in a vertical stringer method, they’re not only increasing the flex and energy of the ski, but they’re also making it quieter with less chatter. We also get Rossignol’s DampTech in this ski, which is a horizontal layer of energy absorbent material to take the quietness to the next level. In the tips, Rossignol uses their Air Tip technology to lighten the swing weight and increase the flotation. To further boost the torsional stiffness of the ski, Rossignol’s Diagofiber keeps the ski firmly planted on the snow to increase edge grip and maintain proper flow through the turns. In the 162, all of this adds up to a relatively paltry weight of 1700 grams per ski. That’s a lot of performance for not a lot of weight.

While the width certainly points this ski to the soft snow and the freeride realm, the rest of the shape and profile are more aligned with the all-mountain zone. That is, the tail is flatter and squarer, there’s good camber underfoot, and there’s not a ton of rocker in the shovel. There’s enough to make it floaty, but it’s still got a relatively low profile and a small amount of splay. This keeps the ski more grounded and intent on being used in a carved turn rather than a smeary and surfy ski for powder and other soft snow applications. The ski also has a shorter radius which is more beneficial in a non-powder situation. The 162’s 101 mm waist is bookended by 137 mm tips and 127 mm tails to generate a 13-meter arc. This is definitely on the short side for a ski this wide, showing the Rallybird 102’s proclivity for turning and carving.

It’s tough to but this ski into a particular category mainly because it does such a good job at blurring lines and mixing attributes. While it has the width and shovel shape to allow for good flotation, it also has a shorter turn radius and a stiffer flex that make it a sublime carver on the groomers. As such, it ends up being a great ski for all of those applications, putting the skier more in control over where and how this ski is used.