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It's no secret that the Rossignol Black Ops freeride skis are a reliable weapon for those big powder days on the mountain - but how do they perform everywhere else? Check out our review to find out but shhhh, don't tell anyone else.

rossignol black ops 98 crop
Level
Expert
Terrain
Freeride, Park, Piste
Best for
Strong powder skiers who seek every jump, lump and bump to pull a trick off but want to enjoy skiing home on the groomers too
Price
£595
lengths
182,192
Bindings?
No
Float
10
Versatility
9
Playfulness
8
Energy
7
Value
8
Stability
9
Overall Score
9
+
There's no secret here - these skis seriously rip all over the mountain and when pushed hard, they give back in spades
Can need a little work in tighter spaces and can lack a little zip at slower speeds

When skiers Parker White and Chris Logan were tasked with designing a ski that ripped in powder but played in the park...and yes, performed on piste too, they made sure their ideas stayed under wraps - the Black Ops were born.

The 98mm under foot version (there's also a 118) is a super versatile freestyle-freeride weapon that truly does play the mountain with style and despite its name, they seem to have no enemies in sight.

They cut smoothly through deep powder snow - with a nice soft float that doesn't oversteer but feels solid underfoot and packs a punch when it comes to higher end performance, contradicting their park ski look and feel.

On groomed slopes they genuinely switch from bad ass powder grunts to smooth secret agents that want to glide through everything unnoticed. Having said that, they suit a higher ability level of skier who wants to push the skis at the sharp end of the turn spectrum and therefore the less technically able might struggle to get the final 10% out of them. Which is a shame, because they are capable of so much more than just laps of the park.

Even if you can't get the final 10% out of them they aren't difficult to steer during the turn initiation phase, so a progressive intermediate doing a season could very well use them to strive towards the top level of performance.

If you're the kind of skier that consistently searches for those secret powder stashes but won't compromise on freestyle performance then the Black Ops is right up there with the very best - the Navy Seals of the ski world. We say Oorah that.

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