Rossignol Slimi Review: A Powder Freestyle Board With Trade-Offs

Introduction

Rossignol finally has a true powder freestyle board in its lineup. The Slimi is an all-new model that replaces the Sashimi, and it arrives with a clear identity: a directional, rocker-forward ride built for spinning, buttering, and slashing through powder, with enough camber underfoot to stay useful around the resort.

The profile is Rossignol’s AmpTech Elite camber, combining 15% rocker in the nose, 80% camber through the insert pack, and 5% rocker in the tail. On paper, that should give you the load, pop, snap, and drive of traditional camber right under your feet, plus easier turn entry and exit and better powder float from the rocker. It is available in 152, 155, 158, and 161.

This review is based on riding the Slimi at Copper Mountain on a near-perfect test day: sunny and bluebird, five inches of fresh snow, up to a foot in wind-loaded areas, with chop, chunder, and perfect corduroy mixed in. The board was ridden with Rome Black Label bindings and K2 Altimeter boots.

Who This Board Is For

The Slimi is aimed at the resort ripper who is freestyle-focused with their powder hunting. If your ideal pow day involves spinning off natural features, throwing pow butters, and slashing stashes between groomer laps, this board speaks directly to you.

It also needs to hold an edge when you are just cruising the resort looking for those stashes, and that is where the camber-dominant insert pack earns its keep. Nimble edge to edge with good power transmission on a groomer, it locks in well enough for everyday laps.

Main Strengths

The AmpTech Elite camber profile is easy to engage. You can roll back onto the tail and get it to snap, and when you are flat-basing, the carbon strips in the construction activate and you genuinely notice the pop.

Flex-wise, the board is slightly past the middle of the road overall and feels softer than the Sashimi it replaces. The flex is directional, with most of the give in the nose, a stiffer midsection that may be the stiffest portion of the board, and a slightly stiffer but shorter tail. Torsionally, the board twists and rebounds as expected.

The nose is the standout. With more rocker and a longer upkick, it is easy to leverage your weight out, and the board floats confidently in powder. The tip and tail shape, plus the orca graphic on the tail, give it a playful personality that matches its freestyle intent.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The biggest surprise is how much you can overpower this board. It is softer than you would think, and it over-flexes easily, especially in powder butters. During testing, the rider repeatedly dropped a hand to catch themselves on pow butter 360s and even while locking in 180s. Tone it down and stay centered.

The tail is a mixed bag. Its shorter length makes wheelies and tail presses easier, since you can sit outside the insert pack without worry, but on hard carves it simply lacks power. If you load up the camber section and push off the tail to rip a deep carve, it over-flexes and does not grip the way you expect. The board would benefit from more tail power, whether through a wider carbon array or a slightly wider tail overall.

There is one quirk worth knowing: the board rebounds back to flat-base when you overpower it, which helps with correction but has caught riders off guard. Pop off your edges rather than flat base and things can feel slightly cattywampus, so keep takeoffs more flat-based for the best snap.

Compared to the Sashimi, you sacrifice some edge hold and carve power. Medium mellow carves and short, tight, quick carves are fine, but deep, hard, loaded carves that the Sashimi could handle are not this board’s strength. It would rather go in mellow and slash.

Buying Advice

If you already know how to butter and you want a powder freestyle board that still locks in on groomers, the Slimi is a genuinely fun, lively ride with a great shape and a standout tail graphic. It rides smaller than its length suggests thanks to all that nose rocker.

If hard-charging carve power and maximum edge hold are your priorities, the Sashimi’s departure leaves a gap, and comparable boards may suit you better. Options in the same space include the Jones Mind Expander, the Arbor Carter, and the Battalion Surfer. For bindings, pairing suggestions include the Jones Meteorite, the Rome Katana, or the Union Strata.

If Rossignol tweaks the tail’s carbon array for the next model year, this could become the ideal powder freestyle board. As it stands, it is a different kind of ride: more freestyle-focused than expected, imperfect in the tail, but genuinely enjoyable for the right rider.

Conclusion

The Rossignol Slimi is a welcome addition for riders who wanted a powder freestyle board in the lineup, even if retiring the Sashimi to make room for it feels like a loss. It offers easy camber engagement, lively pop when flat-basing, excellent nose float, and a playful buttering character, at the cost of tail power and deep-carve grip. For freestyle-minded powder hunters, it is worth a serious look.