by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The only change to the Blizzard Brahma for 20/20 is the addition of “88” to its moniker, the better to distinguish it from its new little brother, the Brahma 82. As surface area roughly equates to flotation and ease of operation in irregular, off-trail conditions, the Brahma 88 remains the better choice as a one-ski quiver. While we are encouraged by the trend to narrower skis, there’s no doubt that from the perspective of terrain versatility, a wider ski offers more benefits than liabilities.
The Brahma 88 has been among the top models in the All-Mountain East genre since it’s debut. The reasons for its sustained popularity are several, beginning with its Flipcore construction. To give you an idea of how different Flipcore construction is, when you get a Flipcore ski like the Brahma too hot when ironing on wax, the ski will try to revert to its originally molded position, revealing that it inherent camber is upside down. (BTW, don’t do this, please.)
Primary among Flipcore’s virtues is that there is no stress where the relatively mild tip and tail rocker connects with the middle of the ski; when the ski is tipped and pressured, the full length of the ski comes into play. An added benefit is that the ski follows terrain brilliantly, a big bonus in crud bumps. If the skier wants a little more oomph out of the turn, dual multi-directional fiberglass laminates provide energy on demand.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
I readily admit to an engrained bias in favor of the Blizzard Bonafide, as a pair has lived in the first row of my ski locker since its inception. I take them everywhere I go because I’m confident there’s no condition on earth they cannot ski, and ski well.
The Bonafide has remained a perennial all-star for skiers because it’s built on sound fundamentals: a wood core made from poplar and beech sandwiched between laminates of multi-directional glass and Titanal. Its Flipcore design connects to the edge early, with no disruption in the snow connection from the modestly rockered forebody through the midsection to its flat, supportive tail.
If one wished to pick a nit, it could be argued that the Bonafide is geared for the more skilled skier. But this is true of virtually all the more torsionally rigid models in the All-Mountain West genre. If you want to tone it down a bit, get it in a shorter length and you, too, can experience one of the greatest skis ever made.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The Blizzard Cochise has been around long enough that it’s become the longest tenured member of the Big Mountain academy. But don’t mistake its age for weakness. Until the Völkl Mantra 102 came along this year, the Cochise had no peer as a balls-to-the-wall crud-buster. It has the turn radius of a blue whale and the construction of a GS race ski. If you’re in its way, I would suggest moving.
The reason the Cochise hasn’t lost its relevance has less to do with how it’s changed than how it hasn’t. No other ski beats it for stability at speed, and we mean in any condition. The dirty little secret that experts know about how to ski chopped-up powder is to step on the gas. The Cochise already knows not to pick a dainty path through the crud but to barrel through it, skimming over what’s still clean and pummeling the rubble. With this kind of power, of course it can ski hard snow, where the Cochise exhibits its prowess as a trench digger. If you have the skills, you can take the Cochise pretty much anywhere and it will dominate.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The Blizzard Rustler 10 wants you to look good, so it makes everything about off-trail skiing easier. There’s a long, central band of Titanal on the top to stabilize the ski underfoot while allowing the tip and tail to twist. The idea is to keep the tapered tip from getting involved with every obstruction it meets; instead of trying to hook up at the top of turn like a hard-snow-oriented ski is meant to do, it politely deflects all rough treatment by bending with the blow. The same basic idea at the tail keeps it from insisting on finishing every arc on a hairline trajectory, as if skiing were trying to emulate figure skating.
A more powerful skier who takes his hard-snow technique with him when he travels off-trail might prefer the more connected feel of the Blizzard Cochise. But for the majority of off-piste skiers, the Rustler 10 is a better fit. When the nearly expert skier really needs help, the Rustler is a godsend. Imagine being in flat light – a common condition when the goods are there to be gotten – and not being able to tell what your tips are going to encounter next. That’s where the Rustler 10’s innate surf-ability takes over, smearing over the unseen obstacles as if they weren’t there.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The position of the Black Pearl 78 in our test over the last two seasons has to be the most anomalous in the entire test. The Frontside category is supposed to the province of dedicated carvers, skis with extravagant sidecuts, shock-sucking interfaces and elevated binding systems. How did this flat, plain Jane with a shallow, off-trail shape and double rockered baseline not only end up in this den of carvers, but leading it in Power points?
One possible answer is the Black Pearl 78 actually is the best carving tool in the Frontside drawer. Its test scores, which admittedly can be misleading, lead the large field in early turn entry, continuous, accurate carving and short-radius turns. That’s a tough trifecta to simply dismiss as anecdotal. Hell, all scores are anecdotal, but we wouldn’t use them if they didn’t tend to accurately reflect behavior.
One stat we don’t capture – because it doesn’t exist – is holding power per ounce, or grip per gram. The 1350g Black Pearl 78 would lap the field. Its relatively tiny, 78mm waist helps it move nimbly edge to edge whether it’s decorating groomers with twin rail tracks or threading through tortuous troughs, the skinniest Pearl in Blizzard’s oyster bed stands out for its ease and accessibility.
