2025 Blizzard Anomaly 102
1

Ski Stats

Sidecut 136/102/123
Radius 19.5m @ 182cm
Lengths 176,182,188,192
Weight 2240g @ 188cm
MSRP $799.99
FIND
Power Score:

Finesse Score:

3
1
0
Every other model in the new Anomaly series expects to become the all-day, everyday ski for whomever is wise enough to acquire it, and justifiably so. The 84, 88 and 94 are differentiated by their terrain biases, but not by skier size or ability. Any reasonably proficient skier would be thrilled by their quietly assertive power and sensitive steering. But if your plan is to ride the Anomaly 102 every day, it would be very helpful if you were very good and didn’t mind skiing very fast. It also wouldn’t hurt if you were fairly stout lad, say in the 200-pound+ club. The bigger, the better and the faster you are, the more you’ll prefer the 102 over its slimmer siblings. The widest Anomaly isn’t built any differently than the other Anomalies, there’s just more ski under you in a 102. The main benefit of added girth is higher flotation, so Blizzard’s design team bumped up the 102’s float-ability by skewing the size run long. With a wider silhouette stretched out over an elongated chassis, the Anomaly 102’s natural turn shape is on the long side. Even when coaxed into a tighter-than-normal turn, the 102 doesn’t veer far from the fall line. One reason the 102 is best left to experts is that it all but obliges the pilot to maintain a fall-line orientation, for with speed comes power, and with it the fortitude to blast through day-old chop. The net effect is the Anomaly 102 delivers a cushioned ride that is more supple and terrain-absorbing rather than terrain-smashing. Its narrower body allows it to initiate turns more easily regardless of the snow conditions. Like the Cochise, it still favors the skilled skier who likes to motor, but it’s easier to drive, like switching from a one-ton pick-up to a luxury sedan. The Anomaly 102 is a fantastic ski, as fast and as smooth as a bullet train, one that doesn’t make local stops for middle-of-the-pack intermediates. It’s not made to nurse the uninitiated into competence, but as a reward for those who have put in the time learning how to play with gravity on big mountains.

Every other model in the new Anomaly series expects to become the all-day, everyday ski for whomever is wise enough to acquire it, and justifiably so. The 84, 88 and 94 are differentiated by their terrain biases, but not by skier size or ability. Any reasonably proficient skier would be thrilled by their quietly assertive power and sensitive steering.

But if your plan is to ride the Anomaly 102 every day, it would be very helpful if you were very good and didn’t mind skiing very fast. It also wouldn’t hurt if you were fairly stout lad, say in the 200-pound+ club.  The bigger, the better and the faster you are, the more you’ll prefer the 102 over its slimmer siblings.

The widest Anomaly isn’t built any differently than the other Anomalies, there’s just more ski under you in a 102.  The main benefit of added girth is higher flotation, so Blizzard’s design team bumped up the 102’s float-ability by skewing the size run long. With a wider silhouette stretched out over an elongated chassis, the Anomaly 102’s natural turn shape is on the long side. Even when coaxed into a tighter-than-normal turn, the 102 doesn’t veer far from the fall line. One reason the 102 is best left to experts is that it all but obliges the pilot to maintain a fall-line orientation, for with speed comes power, and with it the fortitude to blast through day-old chop.

This fall-line charging style is reminiscent of the ski the Anomaly 102 replaces in the Blizzard line, the venerable Cochise 106. While they share some similar behaviors, the two close relatives are actually built quite differently.  To begin with the most fundamental element, the Anomaly uses a TrueBlend wood core, a matrix of beech and poplar vertical laminates precisely positioned to create the ideal, round flex for each size. The Cochise also used a wood core, but it never received the TrueBlend treatment.

More significantly, how the Anomaly’s FluxForm construction treats the top Titanal laminate improved the ski’s flexibility throughout the recreational speed range. With FluxForm, the top Titanal laminate is a beefy .6 slab in the center of the ski, with two equally thick ribbons of Ti running over the edges.  An end-to-end .4mm bottom Ti laminate completes a classic wood-and-metal sandwich in a fresh interpretation.

The net effect is the Anomaly 102 delivers a cushioned ride that is more supple and terrain-absorbing rather than terrain-smashing.  Its narrower body allows it to initiate turns more easily regardless of the snow conditions. Like the Cochise, it still favors the skilled skier who likes to motor, but it’s easier to drive, like switching from a one-ton pick-up to a luxury sedan.

It’s an encouraging development to see the top of this important model series stop at a 102. It wasn’t so long ago that the top dog in this same series was the humongous Bodacious, with as much metal in it as an aircraft carrier. It also wasn’t so long ago that the top-selling ski in our country was the Rossi Soul 7, at 106mm underfoot an absurd choice as an everyday ski for most of America. As a community, we’ve been infatuated by fat for far too long, to the detriment of both individual skier skills and communal skier safety. It bears repeating: if a skier gets on a ski over 100mm underfoot before acquiring technical skills, the path to accessing said skills becomes longer and steeper.

The Anomaly 102 is a fantastic ski, as fast and as smooth as a bullet train, one that doesn’t make local stops for middle-of-the-pack intermediates. It’s not made to nurse the uninitiated into competence, but as a reward for those who have put in the time learning how to play with gravity on big mountains.

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