About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the snowboard, which I purchased with my own money in December of 2020.

My take

The Rossignol XV Sashimi LG is great for powder and steep chutes, obviously due to its massive nose and tapered shape. This board is made for advanced to expert-level riders, especially if they choose not to downsize as the board is volume-shifted.

About the gear I own

• Model: 2020 Rossignol Sashimi
• Size: 160cm

About me

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 175 lbs
• Experience: 18 years of riding experience and teaching for the last 10 years.

Test conditions

• When I bought this: December 2020
• Days tested: 125
• Mount position: Regular
• Boots: 2020 32 TM2 Jones Edition
• Boot Size: 10.5
• Bindings: 2021 Union Atlas
• Where I’ve used it: Big Sky Resort
• Terrain: Green, Blue, Black, Double, and Triple Black Diamonds. Big Sky Resort has some very technical chutes that are accessed via the Challenger chairlift and hiking to the A to Z chutes. These chutes have many technical tight options, as well as mandatory cliff drops and no fall zones. Trees, including uncut thick backcountry.

How it performs

What I was looking for

I was looking for a board that would perform in the chutes at Big Sky and could float well to help keep me above moving snow, stable at high speeds, and agile enough to make quick turn initiations. Honestly, I was replacing my Jones Hovercraft, which I love. That board is seriously awesome. That being said, I have blown four Jones boards up in the time my one Sashimi lasted. I will continue to buy Jones, but the Rossignol Sashimi is the budget Hovercraft that can hold its own in performance.

Why I chose this gear

I was pushed toward the Rossignol Sashimi due to a pro deal that I had from working as an instructor. The price of this board is very appealing, so I figured it was worth it, even if it did not check all my boxes. It did.

Yes, I am considering buying the Jones Hovercraft again. I can get two Sashimis for the price of a Hovercraft. The Jones boards are in high demand and are not commonly on sales racks. I have consistently seen Sashimis priced at half off in retail stores.

What I love about it

• Carving: The incredibly wide nose allows me to get very high-edge angles in my carving. The downside is the tapper is so large on this board riding switch, and attempting to carve at the same level is difficult because of the directional sidecut and tapered shape.
• Speed: The setback of this board centers my weight over the stiffest section of the board. Combined with the full chamber under my feet, the board does not chatter at high speeds. The only section of the board that is somewhat flimsy at higher speeds is the nose because it is softer and rockered. I have used the Sashimi in many point-and-shoot scenarios where speeds have gotten well above 40 mph. I have brought many boards into these critical chutes and have consistently come back to the Sashimi due to its stability in critical situations.
• Edge hold: Although this board does not have Magne-traction or any other multiple points of contact technology, I found the edge hold to be fantastic. This may be due to the width of the board allowing the rider to apply more of an edge angle.
• Turns: I feel the need to reiterate that Rossignold recommends downsizing and my experience on a 160cm is not the way the board was intended to ride. At slow speeds, this board can be difficult to initiate turns on due to its massive volume. However, if one likes when boards push back (de-chamber during a turn and rechamber coming out of it), I think this board is amazing for turning and carving even at the 160cm model. Because it is built for a bigger individual, I have to apply more pressure to initiate turns and hold edge at speed.
• Powder: Ultimate floatation device. I have owned many boards, and this is one of the best for floating through powder. Hint: If one’s board is made for some 20 lbs heavier, they will float easier.
• Trees: I like to ride in tight trees. Let's paint the picture a little clearer. My friends and I like to go into sections of trees that look unrideable. Very tight spacing and a consistent amount of dead fall to jump over or duck under. That being said, I love the Sashimi for this setting. Riding in trees like this has high consequences, and many times we are breaking trail to sections we have yet to explore and that are not commonly ridden, if at all. I think the Sashimi does a great job of floating in the plateaus that one is sure to come across. The soft nose allows for one to make quick edge changes when needed, and the durability really shines here. I use the nose of my Sashimi as a battering ram to make it through trees. Most of the time, the trees lose, and my nose is intact.
• Durability: I am very rough on equipment. It is not me being foolish or careless with my equipment. Snowboarding is my job, and my snowboard is a tool. My tools will get damaged when I ride the lines that I choose to ride. Everyone has something that they spend way too much money on, and mine is snowboards. I am okay with breaking two or more boards a season because that means I am always trying new boards when my friends have been nursing the same Never Summer Proto for four seasons. To each their own, but I would rather break a board on one line through a tight technical chute than not have that experience. All of that being said, I have put the Sashimi through some grueling scenarios, and after three seasons of being treated like a tool, the base has a few core shots, and the edge on my heelside (more common) has blown. I don’t know much about base technology, but just based on my experience with other brands and boards, this is the strongest base around. I personally break at least two boards a season and constantly have boards getting repaired. This is due to my own aggressive riding style and line choices. I note my way above the normal burn rate of boards to say that I have owned this board for three seasons. Three seasons of teaching and riding at Big Sky Resort which is basically a pile of Andesite rock (volcanic rock) that always breaks a board and not the other way around. Although my Sashimi is now mounted on my wall due to too many fatal wounds, I can honestly say I have never owned a more durable board.
• Weight: I never thought it was too heavy. There are epoxy chambers throughout the board that reduce the weight.
• Stability: There is only rocker from in front of the front foot to the tip of the board. The entire effective edge is chamber and very stable. I find that the tail of the board is the stiffest section and can act like an E brake when needed to slow down in very tight settings.
• Ease of turn initiation: This board can give people a little bit of a hard time when initiating turns because of the width of the nose. This is why Rossignol recommends downsizing, but if someone chooses not to know that, they will not be able to be lazy on this board. High-performance stiff boards require attention and full effort.
• Flotation: The overall volume of this board is massive. Combined with the shape and epoxy resin fillers, this board can float well.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Versatility: For versatility, the Sashimi gets a 2-star rating, and even that might be generous. It is a very directional board. Although I believe that any board can do any task, and I love proving that by bringing the Sashimi into the park, carving, and riding switch, it would be difficult for the average-advanced rider to be able to perform all the tasks on this board that they do on an all-mountain twin.
• Groomers: This board would be more fun on groomers if it wasn’t so directional. I don’t think I have ridden a board with a more aggressive tapper. This makes riding the switch difficult (NOT IMPOSSIBLE) but, yes, difficult.
• Moguls: Trying to ride this board through a mogul field is work. The size of the board demands effort to initiate turns, and one is set back on the board. So if a mogul bumps them just a little bit, it can be difficult to recover and hit the next mogul on time.
• Park : Again, I will blame the tapper. Landing switch on this board is difficult. The tail is very short and much narrower than the rest of the board.
• Backcountry: This is not a splitboard so using it in the backcountry will have limitation; however, Rossignol does make the Sashimi is a splitboard. For some reason, and I fail to understand the decision here, they only make the Sashimi split in 156cm. If they make it in 160cm, I will buy it the day it is released. I wish I could use my Sashimi in the backcountry because I love so many things about it, especially in high consequential lines. Rossignol please make the Sashimi split 160cm.
• Switch riding: This is a difficult board-to-ride switch to due its directional side cut and tapered shape.

Favorite moment with this gear

I am very fortunate that I get to ride at Big Sky Resort every day. Big Sky is home to aggressive chutes and couilors, along with thousands of acres of trees. My favorite place on that mountain is the A to Z chutes. The A to Z chutes, though, are much shorter and have fewer mandatory drops than the adjacent side of the ridge (Headwaters). There are more secret chutes that fill in on the A to Z chute side. On a good year, a line will fill in under a weather station positioned halfway down the ridge. This line is extremely tight and has curves, so a mistake would leave me tomahawking into a rock wall.

The snow needs to be right, and it is highly probable that I will break the snow loose and create a slide. This is because this is not a chute that the resort mitigates because it hardly looks possible to the average skier or snowboarder. I have had this chute in mind for a few years and practiced critical skills that would allow me to succeed or at least mitigate mistakes if they were made. I have slipped my way through the weather tower chute three times now, and every time requires all of my attention, discipline, and skill. Two of those times have been on my Rossignol Sashimi which I have named Katara (all my boards have names). I typically drop around 450 vertical feet in 12 seconds to ride this line. I have never checked to see how fast I am going, but it is as fast as I can handle. Getting to the apron and railing into the back of the board drops some speed. I can feel my heart pumping. This line has been one of the most climatic moments in my life, and the tool I used to get there was a Rossignol Sashimi 160cm named Katara.

Value for the money vs. other options

Similar options: Jones Hovercraft, Nitro Squash, and Salomon Sickstick. I have ridden all of these other options and like them a lot. They all perform at a high level and have similar technology and capabilities. The Sashimi is the cheapest and most durable, so one will definitely get their money's worth from this purchase.

Final verdict

This board unlocks mindsets. It allows me to accomplish lines and skills I have been working on for years.