OVERVIEW
Blizzard’s fortunes began to turn around several years ago when the Tecnica Group acquired the brand and factory in Mittersill, Austria, and pumped a few million euros into an overhaul. It’s often the case in the world of industry that he who builds the last factory wins, as it will have the most modern machinery and latest technical capacities. Tecnica management backed up their bet with the movement of some top design talent from Völkl to Blizzard, and the stage was set for a rejuvenated Blizzard to show what it could do.
They probably would have done just fine if they never signed Arne Backstrom to ski on their brand, but the world-class big mountain skier did more than just represent the company, he helped transform it. It was Backstrom who first conceived the idea of rockering a ski by simply flipping the core over, so the tip and tail naturally curved up instead of down. The recently anointed Blizzard engineers figured out how to execute the idea and presto, the Flip Core was born.
The short history lesson matters because this flipping-the-core business makes a ski with a remarkably large behavioral envelope. In category after category, the Flip Core skis deliver elite performance with all the rough edges removed. Most skis with a limitless top end don’t suffer fools gladly – in our jargon, most great Power skis don’t exhibit many Finesse properties – but the Flip Core skis aren’t finicky. Many models with pronounced front rocker don’t ever feel connected in the forebody, but the rocker on a Flip Core ski blends with the midsection when flexed, so the edge feels engaged tip-to-tail. This intoxicating blend of behaviors has seduced countless ski testers, thrusting models like the Bonafide, Cochise, Samba and Brahma into the first rank in their respective genres.
If the ski market as a whole were healthier, it’s hard to say just how big Blizzard’s turnaround would be. As things stand, the brand’s rise has overlapped with a ski sales recession driven by a few seasons of lousy weather and a nervous economy. If the ski market rebounds to anything like its previous glory, Blizzard is poised to reap a bounty.
The 2017 Season
2017 was supposed to the year that Blizzard’s Frontside and Technical skis capitalized on the runaway success of their All-Mountain Flip Core models and recaptured market share among on-piste skiers. But somewhere between the drafting board and the end of the production line, some part of the complex calculus of building a high performance ski/binding system didn’t add up. An aggressive new product launch plan couldn’t overcome perceived performance pitfalls, putting a 16-model, pivotal product segment at risk.
But the last chapter of the story of Blizzard’s Quattro series is far from written; in fact, it’s only halfway through the introduction. Blizzard has had several months to sort out whatever glitches confounded their initial efforts and the stakes are too high to fail. Realskiers will try to get an on-snow re-assessment into these pages as soon as circumstances permit.
If you were shopping for a women’s All-Mountain ski last spring, you may have noticed new Sheevas, Sambas, Black Pearls and Cheyennes gradually infiltrating the inventory at specialty shops. While some of the cosmetic changes in the 2017 models are subtle, the overhaul under the topskin is comprehensive.
Blizzard has dubbed the suite of changes to their women’s Freeride collection Women’s Specific Design (WSD). Principal among them is the adoption of a technology originally developed for Blizzard’s Zero G line of backcountry touring skis. It uses a unidirectional carbon frame running the length of the ski for structural support and added torsional rigidity. Because the frame is so light, Blizzard actually switched to denser wood (poplar/beech) in the core for added strength and snow feel.
The WSD makeover lightened the women’s Flip Core line by 15-20%, while increasing resistance to twist by 11%, augmenting edge grip. The brilliant Carbon Flip Core baseline remains intact, allowing these well-rockered skis to stay connected to the snow in all conditions.