2027 Rossignol Arcade 84

The 2027 Rossignol Arcade 84 is a carryover model featuring the same shape, construction, and graphics as last year. These 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 due to the width, this ski favors on-trail and carving activities for intermediate, advanced, and expert skiers. The stiffness of the ski and the shorter radius make it a bit daunting if you are trying to reach the zenith of its performance.

These skis have a very solid construction. 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 beam 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 stringer, 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. 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. Tester Greg Petrics notes that “This ski was a surprise for me. I did not think I would like it but I did. It has great all mountain potential, and decent performance on-piste. This ski is a good contender for an all-mountain ski with almost nothing on the hill off limits. I think it angles a bit more towards the bumps and crud, but it holds a nice edge on-piste. If you want more edge grip on piste though I'd STRONGLY consider the Arcade 88 which has the full sheet of metal (according to the Rossi rep) which I also tried and liked marginally better.”

In terms of shape and profile, the Arcade 84 can best be described as “classic.” 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. Tester Josh Matta calls them “Damp. All of Arcades and freeride Rossi just so are quiet on snow. Hard snow, groomers, bumps, and skied out trees are all in this ski’s zone. Torsionally stiff stuff enough to hold an edge on groomers, but not so demanding that it is hard to ski in bump, or quite as steerable than the Mantra 84 or Stance Pro 82 but close.”

This is a very carvy all-mountain 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. They do need to be driven by a relatively skilled pilot, and that skier will end up getting the most carving power and versatility out of these skis.