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I love this ski and it has changed the way I ride. I can do so much more on the mountain now and never feel limited in what I can do out there. Freedom is a good feeling.
Performance
This ski is great, absolutley awesome. Rossignol this year has one of the best ski constructions and it shows in the Steeze. It doesn't have a ton of sidecut, as its a backcountry ski, but if you learn to really flex your boot and put a little more force into the ski it turns beautifully on hard pack and you get a sense of the phenominal flex pattern the ski has. I've charged mistakenly into some pretty f-ed up crud, getting that "Oh Shit!" feeling, onlly to fly right through it with no problems. I've gotten into some pretty iffy situations while on these skis: in tight tree spots, down icy steeps, in wet and heavy powder, landing onto windlips. Every time they have exceded my expectations and ripped through whatever sticky situation I've gotten into.
Design
I love the graphic personally. At first I thought it was too loud, but they are totally unique and the girlies like them. You can see the wood core through the topsheet which is sick. A couple of days on the hill so many people were commenting on the graphic it kinda got old, but at least turned into some good chairlift conversation so I can't complain.
Value
I got mine $100 off the retail value at my shop which was $699 USD I think, and I put Solomon STH 16's on it which were 10% off, so it was a good deal. But lets face it, skis are pretty damn expensive, especailly if you're a broke college student like myself. When compared with other skis however, this is a good deal and, depending on your riding style, can be your do-all ski.
Fit
I'm 6' 200 lbs. and I ride the 185 and its perfect. With regard to its width, I thought it might be too big for me to ride it all mtn. since I usually ride a much skinnier ski but it quickly became my all mtn. ski.
Characteristics
Before trying the ski out I played with it in the shop a bit a bent it every which way. I grabbed the tip and could torque it a bit in every direction, put my knee into it and flexed it back, and I thought at first "this thing is relativley stiff but probably too soft for my preference." When I rode it I found that I was completely wrong. I could charge super hard over anything with little to no chatter, and in the powder I could get it to flex just the right amount to rise above the fluff. In the park it has good pop and has just the right amount of flex in certain areas. It is built to have the weight centered more towards the boot, so it has a very even flex pattern with it being soft at the very tip and stiff where you need it.
Durability
They have this new topsheet construction which is supposed to reduce chipping of the laminate on top. It works OK but I can't really say yet since I've only had them for half of a season. However, I'm going to jump to the conclusion that it really doesn't reduce chipping that much. The rest of the ski seems very durable, only time will tell though. Again, I'm going to just go ahead and say yes, they are very durable since they are made by a very solid company.
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