2025 Rossignol Arcade 84

The Rossignol Arcade 84 is a slightly narrower and slightly less damp version of the wider Arcade 88, but it still holds an incredible amount of performance and precision. In addition, this ski comes in at a tremendous value for what it provides on the snow. We’re moving away from the high-end Experience line of skis and into Arcade. These new 84’s provide excellent on-trail carving and energy to go along with an all-mountain character. The ski is traditional in nature as it utilizes a thicker wood core, minimal rocker, and almost zero taper. As a result, this ski has a long effective edge for smooth carving and tenacious rebound. While it’s versatile to a point, this ski favors on-trail and carving activities for intermediate, advanced, and expert skiers.

Built with a poplar wood core, and a thick one at that, the Arcade 84 is a strong, stiff, and energetic ski. We get a central titanal plate in the middle of the ski that helps to reduce vibrations underfoot and increase edge grip. In the tips, the skis use Rossignol’s VAS to silence the ski at the front. Inside the wood core, Rossignol implements their LCT strip that functions as a third sidewall, basically, running through the central spine of the ski. This vertical layer, combined with the thick poplar wood core, increases the stiffness and responsiveness of the ski. In the 176, the ski sits on the scale at 1750 grams per ski, making it light enough for agility but hefty enough to handle speed and aggressive skiing. Tester Greg Morrill notes that “the ski likes medium radius turns. On the packed spring surface it provided a strong ride. It handled the soft surfaces great. Good edge grip.” The strength of the ski shines in its short to medium radius turns, leading to a different feel when it comes to shape and profile.

At 84 mm underfoot, the skis fall into the blurry range between all-mountain and front side. The Arcade 84, with minimal taper and rocker, leans a bit more to the carvy end. That’s fine, because it does that well. With a lot of camber, the ends of the skis push down in the snow and make anything soft or technical harder to maneuver. On firm and smooth surfaces, this ski eats it up and carves some of the cleanest and most energetic turns out there. You can be a very accomplished racer and still find a lot to like about the Arcade 84. With a 15-meter turn radius in the 176, the arc of the ski borders on slalom, so be prepared to make a lot of mid-range turns. Bob St.Pierre states that the Arcade 84 is “Very turny! Classic lines, long effective edge, and eager to be up and in a carve. Great energy and pop out of the turn, and that's what you're going to get out of a standard camber ski with a wood core. No bells and whistles, just a strong, basic ski.”

While the width and application of the Arcade 84 will lead intermediate skiers to its zone, it’s really a ski that’s better suited for advanced and expert skiers due to the flex. These things are stiff and if you’re not used to that style of ski, it can be difficult to manage. For the advanced and expert skier who’s looking for either a wide front side or a narrow all-mountain ski that can really lay them over, this is one of the coolest new skis we’ve seen this year. The fact that it’s now a lot more affordable than its Experience predecessor makes it all the more intriguing and worthy of second and third looks.