REVIEW: 2012-2013 Rossignol Squad 7, 190cm

[Bandit Man]

For a 130-pounder at 5'8", they're definitely more charger than playful for me in anything but untracked or very soft. Part of this, no doubt, is getting used to them after spending most of the winter touring on 112 Pures. The Squads absolutely destroy crud for me. Way better than my 183 Katana, but also less nimble. Great ski, but will require some gym work to get the most out of them at my weight.

I've got 55-lbs on you, so take that into consideration. I used to have 183 Katana's, too and actually think the Squads are just about as easy to ski. Would definitely agree that they are a soft snow-biased ski, too. Not an all-mtn tool, but when there is 6"+ they are amazing...and they kill crud. So nice not having to fight my pow skis in skied out conditions the way I had to on my Super 7's.

[Andyski]

So nice not having to fight my pow skis in skied out conditions the way I had to on my Super 7's.

This is exactly the thing that me realize they were keepers. Killing pow is table stakes at 120 under foot. Having fun the rest of the way down the hill, and I don't mean smoothed out groomers, on a weekend pow day is what makes these shine. On Sunday, we got a decent amount of wet snow overnight at Alpy. The first couple runs were almost entirely untracked or close to it top to bottom. By 11 a.m., the top was nice and soft, but the bottom was more of the typical maritime battlefield of wetish crud. The Squads blew through the junk at the bottom far better than any ski I've been on before. When it was tight, it was work for me to get them around, but where I could open it up, it was Cadillac.

I wonder if, at my height/weight, I should consider mounting +1 at some point for quicker turning. There's SO MUCH tail on these as-is I'd be very hesitant to do it.

[tone capone]

Would definitely agree that they are a soft snow-biased ski, too. Not an all-mtn tool, but when there is 6"+ they are amazing

I will say that for my style, they are a far better all mountain tool than skis with minimal camber and shape with a larger turn radius. Maybe it's just me but I find the squad 7's to ski very traditionally on packed snow, they turn themselves while my buddies Protests feel like more work to get on edge, more energy transmitted to the knees, and way looser in a carve, and kinda sketchy going straight. To me being on skis like that doesn't feel all that different from being on a Spatula. I guess it just comes down to your style and whether you are more of a carver or a slarver, but in my experience the Squad 7 is a pretty awesome everyday ski for something that is so sick in the pow. So nimble and shut downable for a ski that loves to go fast in the pow. There are rare moments when I wish they were a little stiffer in the tips, but I wouldn't wanna trade how they feel in pow for anything. Somehow I got through this season without gimping myself again and these skis saved my ass more times than I can count.

[Bandit Man]

I guess it just comes down to your style and whether you are more of a carver or a slarver, but in my experience the Squad 7 is a pretty awesome everyday ski for something that is so sick in the pow.

You're right. They do really well in an all-mtn. role for their girth...and do actually carve. I have just found that I need to throttle my praise of skis down a bit because I live in the PNW and get soft snow a lot, which can bias my perspective. I didn't add these to the quiver until 2 months ago, but there were maybe 3-4 days all season where these would not have been the first choice for me if they had been in the quiver all year long.

[tone capone]

Not to diss on Protests or other skis in that category, I'm sure I would love them in the pow. I just like a more traditional, turnier ski with more sidecut and camber for the dry spells we are prone to. We had a very dry January with a long period of chalk skiin during which the Squads treated me very well.

[BigLineSeeker]

I have spent about 20 days on my squads this season. They are mounted at -2cm w FKS180s. I am 5'11" 160lbs and prefer to carve vs. slarve whenever possible.

I posted my praise for these skis a few times already in this thread. As I ski the more I continue really dig the squads in anthing 4" plus, but much prefer a more traditional ski in packed snow. While I can carve the squads, they take more concentration and effort than the other half of my quiver, blizzard bonafide.

I think the real issue on the carving with the squads is the lack of sidecut in the tail. The skis never really feel locked into a turn which mean I can't trust them as much as I would like to in those conditions.

In the end I have found that I can ski these things all mountain all day, but I have a lot more fun when I take out the bonafide when the snow is not as deep. These two skis have come to be the best 2 ski quiver I have ever had and I cannot imagine switching away from the squads for my powder and crud ski - they are by far the best I have ever had.

[ddsnake]

I prob got 20-30 days on these . Im 6'2" 220lbs , they are way too short and not damp enough . I have not been on them in the last 3 months ...

[YB]

I prob got 20-30 days on these . Im 6'2" 220lbs , they are way too short and not damp enough . I have not been on them in the last 3 months ...

Big tall and heavy has drawbacks, I went from the Bodacious in the 196 down to the Squad. I'm 5'10" and 160 so it was a good change, you should buy my old skis.

[KBP]

Interesting. I ski the Squad 7 as my every day ski. 6'2" 230# Love the ski.

[tone capone]

I have spent about 20 days on my squads this season. They are mounted at -2cm w FKS180s. I am 5'11" 160lbs and prefer to carve vs. slarve whenever possible.

I posted my praise for these skis a few times already in this thread. As I ski the more I continue really dig the squads in anthing 4" plus, but much prefer a more traditional ski in packed snow. While I can carve the squads, they take more concentration and effort than the other half of my quiver, blizzard bonafide.

I think the real issue on the carving with the squads is the lack of sidecut in the tail. The skis never really feel locked into a turn which mean I can't trust them as much as I would like to in those conditions.

In the end I have found that I can ski these things all mountain all day, but I have a lot more fun when I take out the bonafide when the snow is not as deep. These two skis have come to be the best 2 ski quiver I have ever had and I cannot imagine switching away from the squads for my powder and crud ski - they are by far the best I have ever had.

This is great to know, as I have been thinking of making the Bonafide my "kinda light" but still stable and rippable spring backcountry ski. I will say as well that when the shop fucked up the bevel on one ski, I felt like it was washing out and not holding a carve on a firm groomer. They fixed it right away and the problem was gone. I had another skier of about 160 lbs whose opinion I trust say that he feels like the 196 Bodacious was easier to manage than the Squad 7, which is weird. He says the Squads kicked his ass and the Bodacious do anything he wants. It makes me curious about how others think they compare cause that doesn't seem right. YB, I can see where this ski would be overpowered by a stronger heavier rider, bring on a true 190+ crusher and call the current size for what it is, Rossi!

[Bandit Man]

Still just 6-7 days in on my Squads, but wanted to share some observations.

This past Saturday, when it dumped 12-15” (and even deeper with wind loading) in the Cascades, I finally had that “I cannot get these to float” experience some have alluded to. Even with the tip rocker, it felt like the camber and stiffness of the ski were working against it in terms of getting the ski to plane in snow that deep. Skis are mounted on the “0” mark with STH16’s for reference. A bit frustrating since they don’t work well when that big tip is under the snow, so I swapped them with my 193 Shiros and the tip dive was gone and I had a much more pleasant experience.

Switching from my Squad 7’s for the first 90-min of the day over to my Shiro’s for the rest of the day gave me a good comparison of how much burlier the Squads can feel. I’ve never felt that they were too much ski or too demanding, but the Shiros felt like playful toys in comparison…soo much easier to handle. I do feel like I have to stay on top of the Squads and that they require a bit of an aggressive approach and your reward is rock solid stability with a hint of playful (a small hint) especially in garbage snow.

So, I now have some insight to how some folks who say that the Squad 7 is a lot of ski and that is can be a less than perfect powder ski, but still damn well covers 80% of my ski days with aplomb.

[bridge]

I demoed next years 190 squads (mounted at 0) side by side with my 189 Obsetheds (117mm version, mounted at -2) yesterday at snowbird with 6-8 inches of tracked out snow all over the mountain. I generally tend to like 2 kinds of skis, soft floppy very rockered skis (obsethed, hellbents) for powder and goofing around, and stiff, cambered, metal layup (sc 108, xxl, big dumps) skis for crud and pow days with great visibility. Skis I haven't loved are AK JJ's, Armada Ants, basically fairly stiff, light weight skis that get bounced around.

Squads Pros: The feel very locked in on hardpack and when carving though crud, they are pretty stiff underfoot and have a longer turn radius than most skis like this (which I love) and it make them feel pretty stable. The honeycomb tip and tail made their swing weight very lite and they were great for getting into tight chutes. They were stiff enough that the tips didn't flap around and they did have some power. Solid tail for landings/scrubbing speed. Also a plus about the tips without a metal edge is while they felt locked in underfoot they felt very catch free.

Squads Cons: These things ski short. The mount point seems to be way far forward, my obsetheds, which are shoter and I think ski short, skied way longer. I think this is mainly due to the mount point and how tapered they are. They didn't seem to float very well, for a ski with that much rocker they just didn't want to plane to the surface. They light tips that due have some advantages got knocked around a bit in crud.

I really wanted to like the squads but they just didn't do trick for me, the seemed to be an interesting mix between big mountain charger and playful powder ski. I guess I just like skis that sway a little more to one side than being so much in the middle of the two categories. I think a lot of people will like these, just not my cup of tea.

[BigLineSeeker]

I have not had float issues with the squads, but I have mine mounted at -2cm, I am pretty light (160lbs) and generally ski pretty fast. I can't say enough good things about the skis in the soft powder and crud. I will, at least for next season, play with the tune a bit to see if I can round out their groomer performance (it is not bad, just not as confidence inspiring as I would like).

[skinipenem]

I've skied both...
2014 is noticeably lighter, the weight has been lessened from the tip and tail. They are quicker feeling than the 2013. The 2013 is a great ski, feels a bit more of a directional charger with the added heft. The reduced weight in the tips and tails of the 2014 reduces the amount of rocker bounce in addition to added quickness. The weight difference is huge if you're going to tour at all, personally the new Soul 7 is going to be a touring machine.
The Rocker2 115 is great as well, easy to ski, almost like autopilot.
Hope that helps.

What's rocker bounce?
Any more input on the 2012 vs. 2014 squads?

[Fun Consultant]

Rocker bounce, tip flap, whatever you chose to call it...

[skinipenem]

skied the 2014 squad 7 the other day at solitude on variable, some scraps of 6"+, bumps, and hardpack. Can't say I liked them much. Felt very wide underfoot: slow to transition carving and slow steering. Frankly, I couldn't quite figure them out (maybe just not my cup of tea.) They seemed to like only one size turn only and lacked versatility. Difficult to predictably dump speed. Railed harpack at speed quite well. I think these might rock the house in steep powder arcing big turns. I only skiied two runs on them though so take it with a grain of salt.

On the other hand, I skied the 4frnt Renegades and they smoked the squads in powder and soft chop. The Renegades did not perform nearly as well on hardpack as the Squads (not that I personally care how these two skis perform on hardpack.) See the REnegade thread for more details.

[cehayes]

Just finished skiing the 12-13 Squads 4 days at Alta(variable snow before most recent storm), Park City, and solitude. As some others have alluded to, I'm not exactly sure what to think about the ski and think I need some more time before making a final decision. I had the most fun on the ski in soft pow and tracked out pow at both solitude and park city. The ski definitely blew through snow rather then float on top. Very predictably, but I definitely did not feel like I was planning on top. Thats fine for me(and was fun!), but something to consider.

Also, as others have said here, in deep wind affected heavier snow I did have a tip dive issue. It definitely skis short for its length. The mount point seems to be VERY far forward relative to overall length of ski. I'm mounted -2 and even there am really wondering if going back to -3 or dare I say -4 would be better. Does anyone have some mileage mounted back behind -2?

The squads are definitely stiff and the only time I felt out of control is when I got back on them in steeper, tighter terrain. As I said, I think I need more time on them because the more I pushed them, the better they felt. Will report back when I have more time which may be a while considering the extreme lack of snow in the tahoe area.

[Bandit Man]

A few more days on the 12-13 Squads and I love them. Ultimate PNW soft snow ski for me. I've tried a few other skis in this genre and they all seem to lack the versatility the Squads provide me. Thinking about buying another pair of these as a backup since the latest iteration seems to be a little less stout.

[SeatownSlackey]

Timely bump. Prob 16-18 days on mine.

Generally happy with their versatility stability and moderate playfulness. But their length def has a performance ceiling for big guys and bigger dumps.

Yesterday my heft and 30"+ of pnw fresh was way too much for them. Needed another 4+cm of tip as I couldn't keep em afloat. As others previously mentioned,their stiffness n girth make them brutal to ski submarine style.

6'1" 225+ nekkid

Edit to add: mounted- 2

[Bandit Man]

Timely bump. Prob 16-18 days on mine.

Generally happy with their versatility stability and moderate playfulness. But their length def has a performance ceiling for big guys and bigger dumps.

Yesterday my heft and 30"+ of pnw fresh was way too much for them. Needed another 4+cm of tip as I couldn't keep em afloat. As others previously mentioned,their stiffness n girth make them brutal to ski submarine style.

6'1" 225+ nekkid

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Totally agree. Skied Stevens yesterday and opted for the Shiro's over the Squads. For <12" or fresh, love the Squads. They almost seem to get better the more torn up the snow gets. You also have 35-lbs on me. If I weighed more, I'm pretty sure I would have a different opinion.

[JFE24]

Totally agree. Skied Stevens yesterday and opted for the Shiro's over the Squads. For <12" or fresh, love the Squads. They almost seem to get better the more torn up the snow gets. You also have 35-lbs on me. If I weighed more, I'm pretty sure I would have a different opinion.

Bandit Man - I'm just starting to get time on the new Squads, but if what you love most about the 12/13 Squads is their performance in tracked up pow, then yeah, start stockpiling them.

[El Chupacabra]

I picked up a pair of the '12-13 Squad 7s, but haven't mounted them yet. Have a pair of Dukes -- thinking that might be the way to go, for versatility (mostly inbounds, but could use them to tour when traveling). The Dukes aren't much heavier than the alpine binding I would put on them -- a Salomon 900 or 997.

Also, spent 2 days this weekend on 188 '12-13 Super 7s, mounted -1 with Salomon alpine bindings. Super easy to ski, not the most stable at speed, and not particularly good on groomers. Weird moment in some shallow (4" or so) of windpacked pow -- felt like the ski just bogged down and got locked in place, refusing to turn. Is that the tip rocker shape issue that some complain about with the S7 or Super 7?

[BigLineSeeker]

I have around 20 days on my 12-13s and cannot say enough good things. I only weight 160lbs but ski fast / aggressively by most non-TGR standards. I have no issues with float and just love the crud busting ability and dampness of these things. I wish I could find an all mountain ski that would rip crud like these do. I am often tempted to buy something else until I get back out on the Squads and fall in love all over again.

I have mine mounted at -2cm and am really happy there. When demoing the only thing I liked more about the rec mount was the groomer feel, everything else is better at -2cm.

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[Wetdog]

I have around 20 days on my 12-13s and cannot say enough good things. I only weight 160lbs but ski fast / aggressively by most non-TGR standards. I have no issues with float and just love the crud busting ability and dampness of these things. I wish I could find an all mountain ski that would rip crud like these do. I am often tempted to buy something else until I get back out on the Squads and fall in love all over again.

I have mine mounted at -2cm and am really happy there. When demoing the only thing I liked more about the rec mount was the groomer feel, everything else is better at -2cm.

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I agree with that mount point. I skied them last year for 2 days on a Cat Trip in epic bottomless conditions. I kept moving the mount point back until I was at -2 where they felt best. I didn't really ski much firm snow, but on the odd occasion when we had to ski in the cat tracks, I cranked some pretty tight slalom turns on the soft packed and they felt fine with that mount point. They are definitely a powder ski with a mount point aimed to make them more resort friendly. Too far forward for my liking. I don't mind a forward mount point if the tips float, but in the case of the Squads, I was feeling low speed tip dive even a bit around -1.5. -2 seemed perfect with no real downside unless maybe you're looking to set a record on the men's downhill.

[Talking Monkey]

Demoed some 12-13 Squads earlier in the year to experiment with the mounting point before having mine mounted. Tried them at 0, -1, and -2. -1 felt perfect for me and provided the most versatility. I actually kinda hated them at -2.