by Jackson Hogen | Sep 3, 2024
In the fat ski genres where Americans buy the vast majority of their skis, Blizzard is riding a decade-long hot streak. If you only look at skis over 85mm at the waist, it seems like Blizzard hasn’t missed a beat since the launch of its Flipcore baseline. But if you take a step back and look at the world market, there’s a category or two of carvers, skis meant to execute perfect, technical turns on hard snow, where Blizzard is all but invisible, at least in the U.S. For whatever reasons, its Quattro series never captured the imagination of the American carving public. The only way Blizzard was able to penetrate the Frontside segment stateside was with a tiny-waisted, off-trail model (Brahma 82), which is sort of like entering the category via the service entrance.
Consider the problem solved. The Thunderbird R15 WB, introduced three seasons ago and given a modest upgrade last year, doesn’t try to mask its racing pedigree with a carbon overdose; the communication with the angled edge is crisp and clear. The Thunderbird’s snow feel is like HDTV compared to the Quattro’s low-def reception. One reason the T-bird R15 WB feels so sublimely connected is its TrueBlend core has been modified to fit the hard-snow environment. By re-positioning tendrils of high-density beech within strata of lighter poplar, TrueBlend creates a perfectly balanced flex for each size. This may sound like esoterica only an expert can feel, but it’s palpable, and it’s wonderful.
Complementing TrueBlend is a carbon platform underfoot to help muffle shocks without losing the precision of the ski/snow connection. With this combination of wood and carbon, Blizzard has finally found a way to make a carver that is both quiet on the edge and explosive off it. And boy, is it fun to drive.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 3, 2024
When Blizzard completely overhauled its All-Mountain collection this year, the Brahma 82 had already carved out a spot for the Anomaly 84. Having learned from the Brahma experience to keep the performance standard high, the Anomaly 84 uses the same FluxForm construction as its three beefier brethren. The key to FlexForm’s magic lies in how it deploys its Titanal elements up, down and across its chassis. What would normally be a single, .4mm Ti laminate on top is replaced with a .6mm central Ti plate that is independent of two end-to-end Ti ribbons positioned over the edges. A .4mm bottom Ti laminate runs wall-to-wall, giving the Anomaly the strength to grip early-morning groomers. The multi-part top dose of metal allows the ski to flex under less pressure, giving the Anomaly 84 a smooth transition from turn to turn.
Even though the Anomaly 84 is manifestly the tightest turner in its family, it’s still a long-turn lover at heart. It is also perforce the quickest Anomaly edge-to-edge, although tiny, C-shaped carves aren’t naturally in its repertoire. The Anomaly 84 feels right at home motoring along on well-compacted boulevards, despite a baseline that begs to be taken off-road. In other words, the Anomaly 84 lives up to its name, displaying a bundle of anomalous behaviors.
All of its anomalous virtues notwithstanding, if what you’re looking for is an off-trail aficionado, why get an 84 when there are so many wider options better suited to the assignment? The question is perfectly valid, but it’s looking at the issue through the wrong lens. What the Anomaly 84 provides is an on-trail ski that isn’t fixated on short turns, buried edges and slingshot exits. Its off-trail DNA is always available to draw on if you care to dabble in the crud at the edge of the trail, but it doesn’t need new snow to calm it down or give it a sense of purpose.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 3, 2024
By rights, the new Blizzard Black Pearl 84 shouldn’t even be encroaching on Frontside turf, let alone usurping the throne as best Power ski in a Power-prone genre, as every trait but its waist width is tailored for off-trail travel. The Pearl 84 can get away with an unabashedly off-trail sidecut and baseline because of a rich construction that prioritizes edge grip over drift. It doesn’t behave exactly like a classic carver, but its tactical deployment of Titanal gives it the requisite grip to bite into hard snow with the same level of tenacity.
The Black Pearl 84 gets its moxie from Blizzard’s Fluxform Women’s Specific Design, which could prove to be the best women-specific, all-mountain construction ever concocted from the same menu of materials in every other brands’ R&D arsenals.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 3, 2024
The Anomaly 94 represents a complete break with the past: it isn’t just a softer Bonafide or some carver/all-mountain hybrid, it’s a new flavor all its own. Its interesting sidecut – note the high delta between the width at tip and tail – encourages a fall-line orientation. It will make short-radius arcs as long as they don’t stray far from said fall-line, but it would rather mix up a medley of medium to long arcs with the throttle open.
The construction of the Anomaly 94 is an adaptation of the Fluxform design introduced in the Rustler collection last year. Fluxform breaks up the .6mm top sheet of Titanal into a central platform in the binding area and two outer strips running over the edges. The flex is more supple without surrendering an iota of edge grip. Trying to find the perfect balance between fierce edge hold and supple flex was the Bonafide’s ever-elusive Holy Grail; with the Anomaly 94, the quest has found what it has sought for lo, these many product cycles.
Although the Anomaly 94 is a bit softer-flexing than the Bonafide, it’s still a Power stick that rewards a skilled skier. It’s even better than the Bonnie in that it’s easier to bend and finds the edge sooner when drifting into it. It doesn’t pop off the edge like an Old School slalom, but creates a platform you know right away you can trust. It has great edge grip on hard snow for what is at heart an off-trail ski. It’s even temperament in the face of chunky, chewed-up terrain imparts the confidence to attack whatever lies ahead.
The one trait the Anomaly 94 shares with its forebear is it’s a true terrain agnostic; whatever you want to ski, it can handle without breaking a sweat. Old School experts will find it behaves on groomed slopes like a soft GS, displaying a race-caliber stability on edge that also comes in handy in the hot mess of snow conditions that prevail off-trail.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 3, 2024
The 88mm-waisted All-Mountain ski has become a permanent fixture in many major brand’s collections because it hits the sweetspot for the plurality of skiers who plan to deploy the same pair of skis day-in, day-out. It’s the archetype for a model that lives in the middle of a series, able to perform like a Frontside ski on groomers and magically morph into an off-piste crud buster when summoned to perform off-trail. Because every brand structures its line a little differently, an 88 can be the top model in a Frontside-focused series or the narrowest member of an all-terrain clan. Regardless of the angle one views it from, an 88mm-waisted ski is expected to excel.
The Anomaly 88 inherited the slot in the Blizzard line previously occupied by the Brahma, and it continues to offer the same, all-the-turns-you-can-eat menu. Its relatively narrow tail won’t hang up in mutilated moguls, and it has enough surface area to float near the top of 18-inches of powder. It has sufficient power and agility to keep a skilled skier amused even when the off-piste is kaput, yet it isn’t geared so high it won’t take the time to slow down and help a less talented enthusiast learn the ropes. Its performance envelope is huge but doesn’t extend into the extremes of bulletproof boilerplate, which is never fun, or bottomless powder, which is rarely encountered.
I’m leery of the term “intuitive,” at least as it’s applied to computer software. But the Anomaly 88 feels intuitive on snow in that it has no agenda of its own, so it’s ready to do whatever you feel like doing. It’s unperturbed by high speeds or tracked-out terrain. The edge grip feels clean and accurate, and the ski remains compliant throughout the speed range. Its only limitations are intrinsic to its 88mm-waisted shape; it can’t cut corners as fast as a wasp-waisted slalom, or float like chubby Big Mountain model. These are limitations most skiers can learn to live with.
