[The test results for the Bodacious are from 2016; the ski is unchanged for 2017.]

A year ago Blizzard drank a dram of the “Lighter is better!” Kool-Aid and stripped the metal laminates out of the Bodacious. A more visible amendment was the substitution of carbon extensions at the tip and tail to trim further fat and lower swing weight.

The Bodacious went from a battleship to a destroyer, still a formidable vessel, but one more able to maneuver in tight quarters, such as chute entries and trees. Its crash diet notwithstanding, the Bodacious still skis big; it’s hard to overlook a 118mm waist at the heart of a 27m radius sidecut. But it doesn’t ski “look out below!” large; the “Biggest Loser” trim-a-thon it endured last year was a massive ease infusion, giving the Bodacious more fast-twitch muscle.

The revised Bodacious shares several traits with K2’s Pinnacle 118, most notably the ability to hold an edge when all that can penetrate the ice-coated wind crust you’re traveling over is the edge itself. Most massive skis don’t like hard snow and act like spoiled children until they get their way, only calming down when sedated with soft snow they can settle into. The Bodacious would also prefer powder, but it has the good manners to endure firm snow with a minimum of tip flap, and without having to be hoisted up to a high edge angle to find secure grip.