The 2023 Rossignol React R8 CAM sits squarely in the front-side category at 74 mm underfoot and with a groomer/carver style of construction. Best suited for skiers who are either looking for a front side dedicated ski or are looking to fill out a quiver with a fun-loving carver that’s not terribly demanding. While not a race ski by any means, it does have a surprisingly high-performance ceiling to go along with an energetic personality. The foundation of this ski is a full poplar wood core with carbon alloy matrix and LCT. By adding the cross-hatched carbon stringers to the vertically placed LCT beam, the React R8 CAM makes a lot of sense for skiers looking for strength, energy, and power without the weight. In the 177, these skis produce a rather paltry 14-meter turn radius, so it’s quite tight in the turns. The Flex Tip Technology allows skiers to drive into the turn with ease and purpose, creating those clean and round arcs that look so good on the freshly groomed surfaces.
ROCKER PROFILE
Rocker / Camber
CORE MATERIALS
LCT Construction
PREFERRED TERRAIN
Groomers, All Mountain
David Wolfgang was on the 177 and noted it was just right for him. His top scores were 4’s out of 5 given for overall impression, torsional stiffness, edge hold, quickness, maneuverability, and stability. Lower scores of 3 out of 5 for flotation, playfulness, and forgiveness show that the React R8 CAM is a bit more business-like in David’s experience. “First ski, first day, first run. I have to say for the intermediate/advance skier this is a great all-mountain tool for the carver who wants to branch out. The ski was fast with great edge holding ability. It initiated a turn with ease and held the turn whether you were carving arcs or dancing down the fall line.” The blend of ease and edge hold makes the React R8 CAM a formidable ski in this front side range.
Our next two testers, Zach Mooney and Greg Petrics have quite advanced racing backgrounds, so it’s always fun and interesting seeing what expert-level racers have to say about a more recreational-oriented carver. Both of these skiers were on the 177 cm length. Zach Mooney is a regular top-five finisher in our local ski bum race, and while we’re guessing he wouldn’t use the React R8 CAM as a race ski, he still had some high scores to give to the ski. 5’s out of 5 were given for forgiveness, stability, quickness, maneuverability, and playfulness. Zach notes that “The React 8 CAM is a forgiving front side carver. It is playful in softer snow and still holds on hard pack. It handles really well at speed through choppy snow- something I was really surprised to feel in a narrow ski.” We always like it when testers are “surprised” at a specific characteristic. Greg scored it 5’s out of 5 for playfulness and forgiveness, with 4’s for stability, quickness, maneuverability, and overall impression. A lowly 2 for flotation is not surprising for a 74, nor is Greg’s 3 for versatility. “This ski has the personality of a carving-specific ski that has been toned down just a little bit to make it more accessible to a wider array of skiers. The ski's primary strength is that it turns out that it is the PERFECT ski for Perry Merrill--one of Stowe's signature blue square runs. The slightly softer flex of the ski, combined with the medium radius and slightly wider underfoot (74 mm) means that as you start your carved turns, the radius and pace of the ski perfectly matches the pitch that Perry Merrill provides. And this is good news for a lot of skiers out there because almost every ski area in the country has its own "signature blue square groomer", and this ski will let you carve it to perfection. The weakness of this ski is sadly revealed in the fact that not every run on the mountain is Perry Merrill. The ski has a speed limit, and it hits it pretty quickly on black diamond runs where the speed and the edge angles will increase; I found the ski chattering a bit more than I would have liked. But this is to be expected in this category of ski. The ski surprisingly handled a few bumps in the woods I dipped into, and was willing to forgivingly release the tail so I could slarve a bit. This could be a really nice feature for intermediate skiers who want this ski to do more than just carve the signature blue square. The ski is catered to that intermediate and intermediate advanced skier who primarily wants to enjoy their mountain's signature blue square groomer, but might find themselves in the woods or the bumps from time to time.”
Speed limit or no, there’s a ton of skiers out there that spend most, if not all, of their time on mellow blue cruisers. Having a ski like the React R8 CAM to handle all of that terrain as well as the skiers who ski it makes a lot of sense.
