Yesterday i had the privilege, nay, the honour, of trying the 2008 Rossignol B78 Bandits. They are spectacular. Having rental skis, i never really appreciated the difference between good and great skis. Ski-hire shop owners will put you into one of 3 categories: debutante, intermediate, or expert and hand you a pair of 3-year-old skis. The answer to any question that begins with "Are they ok on..." promptly answered: "Oui! C'est bon! C'est parfait!"
My last rental skis: Salomon Crossmax which were in the expert category even though i was not were actually pretty good on the piste (too fast!) but bleak in the powder, lethal on moguls, and would not hold ice at all.
It was with some trepidation and a lot of excitement that i picked up the Bandits to test-drive, feeling that they are somewhere in the ionosphere when compared with my ability. But actually, they are extremely forgiving, we couldn't find any powder but they held the ice like i was skiing on rails, even on extremely steep, fairly rocky ice. i was concerned the size i'd gone for (174cm - which is up to my forehead without shoes) would be too tricky to turn, but they carve effortlessly and turning on moguls is quick and painless. They're actually quite light, compared with the Salomons.
A fair amount of the additional length in these skis seems to be at the back, which means you can get your weight a smidgen further back for powder skiing (if we ever get any powder) and i've found that extra length also saving the day on jumps and moguls where i'd normally be tasting snow face-first. Finally, the twin-tips mean you can pretty much go anywhere, forwards or fakey.
In summary, i love them, and, conveniently, Natalie promptly bought me a pair, and let's not forget the matching Bandit Earth poles which really complement my khaki RipCurl salopettes and make me look just awesome in the bubble-lift or at the restaurant. i should be in a magazine or something.
Hey everybody, come see how good i look!
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