Advnture Verdict
The versatile Rossignol OT 65 Positrack ski is cleverly designed to bridge the gap between off-trail skiing and backcountry touring. It’s a fun and easy to use ski, which will beg you to take it out for runs in a range of conditions.
Pros
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Versatile
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Easy to ski
- +
Good grip
- +
Binding plate included
Cons
- -
Not as fast as other cross country skis
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Rossignol OT 65 Positrack: first impressions
The design of the Rossignol OT 65 Positrack boasts wide dimensions, plenty of sidecut and partial metal edges, all of which enhance this ski’s stability and edge control when you’re off-trail in natural snow. But is that enough to place it amongst the best cross country skis on the market?
• List price: $299.95 / £200 (UK)
• Weight (per 175cm pair): 1,800g
• Base: Positrack
• Edges: Partial metal edge
• Sidecut (in mm): 65 / 53 / 60
• Sizes: 165cm, 175cm,185cm, 195cm
One feature that certainly makes it a contender is that Rossignol have deliberately built this ski shorter than most to make it more accessible to a greater number of skiers (see also: what size cross country skis do I need? Calculate the best length for you). And they also gave it a lot of torsional rigidity and flex from tip to tail, to give skiers confidence. It’s easy to turn and intuitive to maneuver through glades, and across powdery slopes. The ski also comes with a binding plate which is always handy.
Rossignol OT 65 Positrack: on the slopes
If you’re looking for one ski that a) is heaps of fun in a lot of conditions; b) you can wear to tow a sled to a backcountry hut; c) you can zoom around your nearest groomed Nordic network in; or d) won’t be overwhelmed by some backcountry adventures – then the Rossignol OT 65 Positrack ticks all those boxes.
It has metal edges in the middle of the underside of the ski, which, on test, I found didn’t interfere with tracked skiing, but they did give me an edge that I could use to bite into form snow when I wasn’t in a track.
The waxless, fish-scale base has good grip and glide in all snow conditions, and there’s no prep required to get out on snow, so you have no excuses to stay home.
