The Blizzard Brahma underwent the same minor modifications this year as its big brother, the Bonafide, growing a tad fatter at tip and tail. The new radius of the shovel brings a tipped ski in contact with the snow earlier, and the extra shape trims 2m off the turn radius in a 180cm. The net effect is an improvement in carving performance on groomed terrain without detracting one iota from the Brahma’s appetite for off-trail skiing.

The Brahma has a lot in common with the Völkl Kendo, including similar construction, sidecut dimensions and ability to instantly adapt to changing snow conditions. Its performance in moguls is as good as any ski in the genre, bearing in mind that mogul aptitude is a skill that depends more on the skier than the ski.

It’s a given that skiers with superior technical skills are better able to appreciate the exceptional edge grip of the Brahma. But all skiers want better control, and if this capability happens to extend to all known snow conditions even the skier of average skills will be better equipped to cope with whatever the weather brings.

Bob Gleason of Ski Doctors refers to Brahma’s willingness to serve all masters when he notes, “The Brahma has a crispness to the edge that underlies its ease of use. It holds with tenacity on the firm yet can be skidded and slipped with comfort.”

Bobo’s Paul van Sickle notes that the Brahma shares its sibling’s high tolerance for variable snow conditions: “This ski handles great, just like its bigger brother, the Bonafide. Stable platform. Seamless transition from groomed terrain to crud.”

The whole point of the All-Mountain East genre is to make off-piste skiing as simple and smooth as skiing on groomers. No other ski does a better job of buffing out the rough edges in the world of trees, moguls and other untamed terrain than the Brahma.