Ski: 2019-2020 Rossignol Soul 7 HD W, 172 cm
Available Lengths: 156, 164, 172, 180 cm
Blister’s Measured Tip-to-Tail Length: 169.8 cm
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski: 1764 & 1778 grams
Stated Dimensions: 136-104-126 mm
Blister’s Measured Dimensions: 135.2-104.5-125.5 mm
Stated Sidecut Radius (172 cm): 17 meters
Measured Tip & Tail Splay (ski decambered): 86 mm / 18 mm
Measured Traditional Camber Underfoot: 6-7 mm
Core: Paulownia + Carbon/Basalt Laminate
Base: Sintered
Factory Recommended Mount Point: -9.8 cm from center; 75.1 cm from tail
Intro
The Rossignol Soul 7 is one of the most ubiquitous skis in the world, and it has been for some time. While some skiers love to throw jabs at it due to that popularity, we think the Soul 7 is a very good ski, and it even won a “Best Of” award in our Winter Buyer’s Guide this year (in big part due to Blister editor Sam Shaheen’s praise of the ski).
This year, we’re getting on the women’s version of the Soul 7, which returns unchanged for 19/20, apart from some new graphics. We’ve already talked about how the men’s version compares to the rest of the men’s ski market, so how does the women’s version compare it its competition?
What Rossignol says about the Soul 7 HD W
“The most innovative, popular, and playful women’s freeride ski in the world, the all-new SOUL 7 HD W blends instinctive versatility and ease-of-use with progressive freeride performance. Featuring all-new Air Tip 2.0 and Carbon Alloy Matrix technologies, at 106mm underfoot the all-new SOUL 7 HD W is lighter, and more powerful, with the uncompromising versatility to go wherever the snow takes you.”
Wow, that first line is pretty ambitious. Rossi claims the Soul 7 HD W is not only the most popular women’s freeride ski in the world, but also the most innovate and playful? Bold statement.
Beyond that, Rossignol is talking up both the Soul 7 HD W’s versatility and intuitiveness while also highlighting its “progressive freeride performance.” We’re not sure what “progressive freeride” really means, but it seems like Rossi is billing the Soul 7 HD W as a versatile and easy ski that maintains high performance.
Shape / Rocker Profile
Compared to most of the other women’s skis on the market, the Soul 7 HD W has a pretty different shape and rocker profile.
The Soul 7 HD W has a lot of tip taper, and a good deal of tail taper for a ski that’s ~104 mm wide. The K2 Gottaluvit 105Ti comes fairly close in terms of taper, but the Soul 7 HD W still has more. As a result, the Soul 7 HD W’s effective edge is a lot shorter than less tapered skis like the Blizzard Sheeva 10, Nordica Santa Ana 100 & 110, DPS Zelda 106, and Line Pandora 104.
The Soul 7 HD W’s rocker profile is also pretty wild, and particularly its tip rocker line. Like the regular Soul 7 HD, the Soul 7 HD W has a ton of tip splay (86 mm). That makes the Soul 7 HD W’s tip splay the highest of any current women’s ski we’ve been on. The Soul 7 HD W’s tip rocker line isn’t super deep, but it does rise very abruptly. Combined with what we’ll talk about in the next section, we think that big tip rise is part of what makes the Soul 7 float so well in deep snow.
The Soul 7 HD W’s tail rocker line is much more subtle — it’s fairly shallow for a ski of this width and doesn’t rise very high. Lastly, the Soul 7 HD W has a lot of camber (6-7 mm) for a ski of its width.
Flex Pattern
Here’s how we’d characterize the flex pattern of the Soul 7 HD W:
Tips: 4.5
Shovels: 5-7
In Front of Toe Piece: 8-9
Underfoot: 9
Behind the Heel Piece: 9
Tails: 7.5-6.5
Like the regular Soul 7 HD, the Soul 7 HD W has extremely soft tips. But once you move toward the middle of the ski, it stiffens up very quickly, and everything that is not the dimpled, see-through “Air Tip” construction is quite strong. The 172 cm Soul 7 HD W’s tails are a bit softer than the 188 cm Soul 7 HD, but the two skis have very similar flex patterns in terms of where they ramp up in stiffness.
Weight
The Soul 7 HD W falls on the slightly lighter end of the spectrum, but it’s not crazy light. When it comes to weight, the Soul 7 HD W is pretty similar to a few other skis in its class like the K2 Mindbender 106C Alliance, Liberty Genesis 106, and DPS Zelda A106.
For reference, here are a number of our measured weights (per ski in grams) for some notable skis. Keep in mind the length differences to try and keep things apples-to-apples.
1533 & 1537 Armada Trace 98, 172 cm (17/18–19/20)
1556 & 1575 Liberty Genesis 96, 165 cm (18/19–19/20)
1557 & 1607 Fischer My Ranger 98, 172 cm (16/17–18/19)
1626 & 1631 K2 Fulluvit 95Ti, 170 cm (18/19)
1626 & 1645 Line Pandora 104, 165 cm (18/19–19/20)
1635 & 1646 Blizzard Black Pearl 98, 166 cm (17/18–19/20)
1651 & 1669 Moment Sierra, 172 cm (17/18–19/20)
1702 & 1721 K2 Gottaluvit 105Ti, 170 cm (18/19)
1709 & 1710 Blizzard Sheeva 10, 172 cm (17/18–19/20)
1711 & 1772 DPS Zelda A106 C2, 171 cm (19/20)
1735 & 1740 K2 Mindbender 106C Alliance, 175 cm (19/20)
1750 & 1769 Armada Victa 97 Ti, 171 cm (17/18–19/20)
1762 & 1801 K2 Mindbender 98Ti Alliance, 168 cm (19/20)
1764 & 1778 Rossignol Soul 7 HD W, 172 cm (17/18–19/20)
1806 & 1821 Blizzard Sheeva 11, 172 cm (17/18–19/20)
1812 & 1813 Head Great Joy, 168 cm (17/18–18/19)
1821 & 1824 Liberty Genesis 106, 171 cm (16/17–18/19)
1983 & 1999 Nordica Santa Ana 100, 177 cm (17/18–19/20)
2076 & 2078 Nordica Santa Ana 110, 177 cm (17/18–19/20)
Bottom Line (For Now)
The Rossignol S series is one of the most iconic ski lines in history, and we’re very eager to see if the Soul 7 HD W not only lives up to the hype, but also how it compares to the rest of the competition. Stay tuned…
Hi Sascha, are all of the ski’s mentioned in the article labelled as womens ski’s. Why aren’t there any mens labelled ski’s?
I had the impression that Blister goes beyond marketing bla. In my opinion there is at least some bla around genderspecific products be it skis or bikes.
Hey Moos,
The main reason we included the skis we did in the weight comparison list is because they are similar in size compared to the 172 cm Soul 7 HD W. Most of the “mens” or “unisex” skis we’ve reviewed in this category are much longer than the 172 cm Soul 7 HD W, so comparing those weights wouldn’t really be a fair comparison. Hope that clears things up.
Thanks Luke, that clears things up a bit.
Sorry I’m a bit of a nitpick: there are shorter versions of the unisex available and taller versions for women. They can be in scope for some. Would you in general be able to say something about women’s versions in comparison to unisex?
From a reviewing perspective I understand you guys seperate the two.
Companies vary greatly when it comes to how they differentiate their unisex skis from their women’s-specific skis. Some are just unisex skis with different top sheets and shorter lengths, while others are completely different from the unisex skis. So it’s not really possible to make any general statements about women’s-specific skis since they vary so much across the industry. Most of our female reviewers prefer skis in the 165-175 cm range, which correlates with most “women’s-specific” skis and is why most of our female reviewers are reviewing women’s-specific skis. When possible, we’ll try to compare those skis to the unisex versions (e.g., the Nordica Santa Ana 100, which we were able to review in a longer length of 177 cm and compare to the Enforcer 100). We’re working on getting more skis in a greater range of lengths to be able to offer more comparisons, but our ability to do so has been fairly limited at this point.
Any suggestions on sizing? My wife rides S7’s @ 168cm, but the Soul 7’s only come in 164 and 172. She is a smooth but not particularly aggressive expert skier, 5’6″, 120 lbs., resort skier, likes powder and trees, pretty much gets all over the mountain.
David,
My wife is 5’6” and is on the 172. She is an advancing intermediate and loves these in the 172. Due to the deep tip rocker, they ski a bit shorter than the average.
What size should i choose for these?
I am 5’4″ – 135ibs. All my skis are 163cm-164cm ( smaller waist).
Thank you.