We admit to experiencing a tremor of trepidation when we heard Blizzard was planning to modify the design of the Bonafide, one of the greatest skis of all time and not, in our august estimation, a candidate for “improvement.”

What a relief to discover they only tweaked what has become the benchmark ski in this genre.   Blizzard slipped a slight slab of carbon into the tip and tail sections, lowering swing weight and enabling the Bonafide to feel “quick for a fat ski,” as Greg from Viking noted.  Testers from around the country confirmed that the new incarnation does indeed feel more nimble than Bonafide 1.0.

Other than this modest if appreciable enhancement, the Bonafide remains intact, which is good news for anyone who wants to try the best all-terrain ski extant that doesn’t cost over $1,000.  Our only cautionary remark – and it applies equally to all our top Power picks in this genre – is that the Bonafide is best appreciated by a skilled skier who is already on top of his all-mountain game.

We think we’ve figured out why the Bonafide is so intoxicating to just about every expert: the Flip Core rocker allows for an ideal transition from a flat ski to a high edge angle. Because of its shape, baseline and flex, the forebody smoothly rolls up to as high an edge as you can muster.  Other fat skis’ rockered forebodies either don’t connect with the rest of the ski or transition abruptly from flat to edged.

Having studied this ski for several seasons, the only thing we haven’t figured out about the Bonafide is what it won’t do. It’s the epitome of the one-ski quiver.