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Help Needed: Rosi Soul 7 hd w or pandora line 104?

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
Hi Ladies,
I’ve just sold a couple of my old skis and would like to reinvest the money in some new skis.
I am looking for something appropriate for Colorado weather. That will do good in powder but also be stiff enough on groomers/hard pack/some ice. I bought k2 fulluvit 96 last year and hated how unstable they were on groomed runs, skied on runs.

I narrowed my search down to Rossignol Soul 7 hd w or Line Pandora 104. Any of you guys have experience with any of these skis? Also should i be good with 164/165cm length being 5’4” -135ibs? Usually i ski 162-164 in length but these two have a bit shorter effective edge.

My third choise is artris birdie 169cm.

Thanks.
 

fgor

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I own the Pandora 104 in 165cm (5'3, 115lb). It's great fun in any sort of offpiste/ungroomed condition, great on soft groomers, it'll hold an edge on icy hardpack but it's not nearly as damp or stable as my 70mm carver skis with metal in em... which is not a fair comparison at all! But it does fine. I bought it specifically because I wanted a ski which could handle everything I might see on a resort powder day, from fresh pow to chop to scraped groomers on the way back to the lift. I'd say it meets my requirements well. I've also used it on slushy spring days! It's a fun ski :smile:

I will say that it's a pretty lightweight ski and I don't know if that necessarily leads itself to great stability on groomed runs. No experience with the k2 fulluvit either.

My other skis are less tapered and rockered and are in the 150-160 range, and I'm an intermediate skier in New Zealand (similar to East Coast conditions so ymmv). Not sure about Colorado conditions!

I'm sure others will come along with more opinions :smile:

Edit: I have a friend in Oregon who uses the Pandora 104 as her daily driver there. I think their snow conditions are a bit different again to Colorado, but she likes it a lot. She's around 5'10 and has the 172cm version.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I rented the Soul 7 2017 at Big Sky for three days. Wanted it for the fresh snow that was pretty deep, mostly over 8 inches. Don't remember having any issues on groomers but wasn't really on that many that didn't have at least a few inches of fresh snow because it was snowing the days I rented. For context, I'm more petite and my all-mountain skis are 85 underfoot, with a flat tail. I've gotten good enough in recent years to ski them in 6-8 inches of fresh snow with no issues.

Last winter I bought a pair of DPS Zelda, 106mm, from a Diva who lives in SLC. I'd demo'd both the Zelda and Yvette a few years before when renting at Alta. The Yvette was 112mm and was only fun in powder. The Zelda was fun both on and off-piste at Snowbird. Not the greatest on slick skied-off groomers but since I was adding to a quiver, it didn't matter that much.

I had the K2 One Luv from 2008. Didn't turn out to be the right skis for me. Have since demo'd a few K2 skis out west but wasn't ever that impressed. However, the K2 Mindbender 98ti was on my list to demo at the Alta Demo Day in April, which was of course cancelled.

https://blisterreview.com/gear-reviews/2019-2020-k2-mindbender-98ti-alliance
 

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
Thank you. i am looking for something that will be fun on the powder days, but also stable at speeds and skied on runs. K2 fullovits were terrible on skied on runs , pretty bad crud performance so i am trying not to make the same mistake. Souls are now on sale for 400$ so seriously thinking going that way but on the other side it looks like pandora has the longer effective edge at 165cm , so can’t make up my mind.
 

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
I own the Pandora 104 in 165cm (5'3, 115lb). It's great fun in any sort of offpiste/ungroomed condition, great on soft groomers, it'll hold an edge on icy hardpack but it's not nearly as damp or stable as my 70mm carver skis with metal in em... which is not a fair comparison at all! But it does fine. I bought it specifically because I wanted a ski which could handle everything I might see on a resort powder day, from fresh pow to chop to scraped groomers on the way back to the lift. I'd say it meets my requirements well. I've also used it on slushy spring days! It's a fun ski :smile:

I will say that it's a pretty lightweight ski and I don't know if that necessarily leads itself to great stability on groomed runs. No experience with the k2 fulluvit either.

My other skis are less tapered and rockered and are in the 150-160 range, and I'm an intermediate skier in New Zealand (similar to East Coast conditions so ymmv). Not sure about Colorado conditions!

I'm sure others will come along with more opinions :smile:

Edit: I have a friend in Oregon who uses the Pandora 104 as her daily driver there. I think their snow conditions are a bit different again to Colorado, but she likes it a lot. She's around 5'10 and has the 172cm version.
Thank you for your response!
I have a couple more questions if you don’t mind! Do you think they ski short having in ming shorter effective edge? I usally ski 163cm so i am scared 165cm might be too short.

Do they chatter at speeds on groomers?
Also, did you have any experience on skied on runs? That is where the k2 fullovits were the worst.

Anyways i think they are stiffer then the souls anyways. Thank you!
 

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
I rented the Soul 7 2017 at Big Sky for three days. Wanted it for the fresh snow that was pretty deep, mostly over 8 inches. Don't remember having any issues on groomers but wasn't really on that many that didn't have at least a few inches of fresh snow because it was snowing the days I rented. For context, I'm more petite and my all-mountain skis are 85 underfoot, with a flat tail. I've gotten good enough in recent years to ski them in 6-8 inches of fresh snow with no issues.

Last winter I bought a pair of DPS Zelda, 106mm, from a Diva who lives in SLC. I'd demo'd both the Zelda and Yvette a few years before when renting at Alta. The Yvette was 112mm and was only fun in powder. The Zelda was fun both on and off-piste at Snowbird. Not the greatest on slick skied-off groomers but since I was adding to a quiver, it didn't matter that much.

I had the K2 One Luv from 2008. Didn't turn out to be the right skis for me. Have since demo'd a few K2 skis out west but wasn't ever that impressed. However, the K2 Mindbender 98ti was on my list to demo at the Alta Demo Day in April, which was of course cancelled.

https://blisterreview.com/gear-reviews/2019-2020-k2-mindbender-98ti-alliance
Thank you!
From what i read from Zelda they sound really good but they are retaining 1300+ so trying to stay under that..
Souls 7 hd w are on sale right now but i am scared they might be too soft and i might have the same problem as with fulluvits.

May i ask how tall are you and what size were you on? I am 5’4” and scared 164 might be too short.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
I really don't think there is going to be 1 ski that will do it all. The Soul series from Rossi is their free ride grouping. The Experience is the all mountain group. This group will be better in crud and on soft groomers. But will not excel at deep powder where the Soul's would shine.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Thank you!
From what i read from Zelda they sound really good but they are retaining 1300+ so trying to stay under that..
Souls 7 hd w are on sale right now but i am scared they might be too soft and i might have the same problem as with fulluvits.

May i ask how tall are you and what size were you on? I am 5’4” and scared 164 might be too short.
I'm 5'0", 110 lbs, older, advanced but not aggressive. For skiing in powder I'd say 164 is on the short side for your ht/wt. When I've rented demo skis on a powder day, I've gone as long as 166cm for skis that were 105-117 underfoot. When I had the Soul 7 (2017 version) at Big Sky, they were 162cm. I know I like Rossi skis in general. Was looking for the Sky 7 but it wasn't available. So I went wider since a snowstorm was on the way. The Zelda skis I bought are 158cm so a bit short for 106 underfoot but the price was too good to pass up. They are that much easier to turn in trees or on groomers. So for general use there is something to be said for going shorter.

What skis have you tried that were model year 2017 or later in the same width range you are considering?

A lot has changed since 1996. For that matter the Black Pearls I bought in 2012 are very different from the current version, and there was at least one other version in between with the same name but enough difference in design and materials that they skied quite differently. I liked the first BP88 a lot better on hard snow than the original Bull version.

Of course, just because certain skis work for me doesn't mean too much for someone else. I have had the advantage of going to quite a few demo days, so can draw on my experience when deciding what to rent when I get lucky and catch a powder storm. Wasn't really expecting to buy a pair of powder skis since I fly to ski out west.
 

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
I did not demo anything to be honest, there are no free demo days around here and demoing 3-4 pairs of skis ends up being half of your new skis so i decided against it. (Was thinking maybe doing that this year as we don’t know how the ski season is going to go but my boyfriend says i will probably lose so much time renting the skis and maybe better just go ahead and buy it)

I have armada victa 87 from 2017 163cm and they are my daily raiders but i needed something for powder days so i got K2 fulluvit 95 also in 163cm but I didn’t like them at all. Terrible on skied on runs or refrozen crud, chutes. I guess too soft for me. They were fun in powder but that was it so i decided to sell them as if i am gonna use them just for that i might as well get something with a bigger waist.

My goal was to find a ski that will be fun everywhere on the powder day, in the fresh powder, crud, frozen crud, hold a good edge on groomers for the afternoon.

Rossi Soul 7 hd w has a very good reviews on gear lab and blister but mens version had pretty bad reviews on both.
Also through the reviews i figured Line Pandora 104 is very similar but with a bit longer effective edge and tiny bit stiffer looks like.

My friend recommended Atris Birdie but i am scared to go up to 169cm in size.
 

AJM

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I didnt like the Rossi's at all as I hated the flappy tips, but I've heard good things about the Black Crows, personally I love my BP's 88's I take them everywhere in NZ conditions (similar to East Coast) from groomers to hard pack to ice to crud and on a good day powder although anything more than about 8 inches and I have to do a lot more work :laughter: I am a bit of a one trick pony and like the one ski to do everything preferably with the least amount of effort !!!
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
....
My goal was to find a ski that will be fun everywhere on the powder day, in the fresh powder, crud, frozen crud, hold a good edge on groomers for the afternoon.....That will do good in powder but also be stiff enough on groomers/hard pack/some ice....
Are you looking for a ski that will do it all equally well and leave you smiling? I don't think there is such a ski. Manufacturers will market do-it-all skis, but I'd take that with a grain of salt.

What exactly did the k2 Fulluvit 96 do on groomers that you didn't like? You said you "hated how unstable they were on groomed runs, skied on runs." I'm asking because figuring out what went wrong may help you choose a new ski.

--Did they catch an edge on hardpack when you were skiing straight on with flat skis and throw you off to the side unexpectedly?
--Did their tips flap and chatter when you went fast on the hard snow?
--Did they not grip on that skied-off snow when you wanted some grip, so that you were skidding a bit out of control?

--When you bought them, what tune did you put on them? Or did you just go with the factory tune and leave it at that?
--Did you keep them sharp with daily or weekly tuning?
 

HikenSki

Angel Diva
I'm kind of not surprised the Fulluvits gave you an issue on the hardpack at the length you chose. There is quite a bit of time rocker so the effective edge you had was much less than your Victa at the same length. So in a sense, you were skiing on even shorter skies on hardpack. If you were to put the skis side by side, push down where the bindings are and look where the rocker starts, you can see that while they are the same length, their contact areas are not the same. I would go longer on your next powder/soft snow ski.
I just sold my Alluvit 88 and they were OK on the hardpack - too soft and too much too flap for my height and weight. I now ski the Head More 93 and just bought the Liberty V82w for harder snow days.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I have armada victa 87 from 2017 163cm and they are my daily raiders but i needed something for powder days so i got K2 fulluvit 95 also in 163cm but I didn’t like them at all. Terrible on skied on runs or refrozen crud, chutes. I guess too soft for me. They were fun in powder but that was it so i decided to sell them as if i am gonna use them just for that i might as well get something with a bigger waist.

My goal was to find a ski that will be fun everywhere on the powder day, in the fresh powder, crud, frozen crud, hold a good edge on groomers for the afternoon.
What region are you skiing the most? What brands are more available?

Does help to know that you have a pair fo skis 87 underfoot. It sounded like you wanted one pair of skis as a daily driver. In that case, few Divas would recommend widths over 100.
 

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
Are you looking for a ski that will do it all equally well and leave you smiling? I don't think there is such a ski. Manufacturers will market do-it-all skis, but I'd take that with a grain of salt.

What exactly did the k2 Fulluvit 96 do on groomers that you didn't like? You said you "hated how unstable they were on groomed runs, skied on runs." I'm asking because figuring out what went wrong may help you choose a new ski.

--Did they catch an edge on hardpack when you were skiing straight on with flat skis and throw you off to the side unexpectedly?
--Did their tips flap and chatter when you went fast on the hard snow?
--Did they not grip on that skied-off snow when you wanted some grip, so that you were skidding a bit out of control?

--When you bought them, what tune did you put on them? Or did you just go with the factory tune and leave it at that?
--Did you keep them sharp with daily or weekly tuning?
i guess I had a problem with everything you mentioned, they did chatter when going fast but i could deal with it. What was annoying me the most is not being able to trust them because they would skid all the time, not grip at all on skied on runs.
i did take them to the ski shop a couple of times (enough for how long i skied them) because they are plenty of lifts that even on the powder days get skied on and i feel they were too soft for frozen crud on the back on the mountain (my victas do very good on it for example) so they were not much fun for me anymore. I just didn’t trust them anymore after skidding on some places the victas wouldnt even blink.
i ski in Colorado and a lot of people have fat skis as daily drivers so i am hoping to find something 104-110 waist that will be stable enough on groomers but fun in powder. Something i can take out even when there is just a couple of inches of snow and not ruin the fun if the fresh snow is gone in the afternoon.
thank you.
 

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
What region are you skiing the most? What brands are more available?

Does help to know that you have a pair fo skis 87 underfoot. It sounded like you wanted one pair of skis as a daily driver. In that case, few Divas would recommend widths over 100.
I live in Colorado. Because u do have the victas I am looking for something 104-110 waist that i can take out on powder day but that also does ok in crud / groomers.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Just because everyone else has a "fat: ski, doesn't mean it's the right ski for you. All the skiers except 1 that I ski with here in the east are on all mountain skis, so around 85. I'm on 68mm.

You really should demo some skis in the conditions you are looking for.
 
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