Featured Image: Blake Jorgenson
Part of Rossignol’s stealthily developed BlackOps line, the Blazer is a 98-mm underfoot weapon for women who love to charge. Developed by the brand’s female product managers and testers around the world, it’s an athlete-driven, twin tip, do-it-all ski that can be driven in the gnarliest terrain yet is fun, playful and rips a clean arc on the groomers.
“This ski really embodies Rossignol’s ride-free mentality—it goes everywhere and does everything,” says Rossignol Alpine Category Manager, Jake Stevens. “For women skiers that want to ride wherever they want, this is the ski. It can go crazy in the bumps or the big lines, but it’s also playful when you pop out on a groomer to get back to the lift.”
As part of Rossignol’s Eco-Designed range of skis, the BlackOps Blazer features a sustainably sourced poplar extended wood core that brings the contact points all the way to the tip and tail with only limited rocker. This creates a traditional ski with plenty of camber underfoot and a ton of energy to go out and get it. Rossignol then wrapped the poplar core in its proprietary, race-inspired Diago Fiber, which is a carbon weave that stretches as the core flexes—providing a very smooth, round feeling with excellent rebound. An added layer of Damp Tech rubber in the tip and tail reduces unwanted vibrations.
“We were putting Damp Tech everywhere during development, but found putting it in the very tip and tail was best to stop vibration,” Stevens said. “By limiting the rubber to these very small zones, we’re able to stop the initial nervous energy that comes from various angles but still have balance and play. The majority of energy is coming in through the middle of the ski and driving through the body, so it gives you that power underfoot with a nice smooth tip and tail.”
As opposed to simply downsizing a men’s ski, Rossignol adjusted the thickness, length and width of metal inserts to nail the proper flex pattern for each ski length of the BlackOps Blazer. This helped to adjust the torsional twist to provide a full roundness in the flex for each size of the ski.
“Anyone can get on this ski and have a good time—it is not an overpowering big platform that will get you in trouble,” says Stevens. “The skier that is going to absolutely shred on it is someone not afraid to come out of a tight chute into a field of chop and sit back and get through it. That type of skier that wants to push the boundaries and the gas pedal is going to thrive on this ski.”
