The Brahma 88 has been a mainstay of Blizzard’s freeride Flipcore collection since its lauded launch many moons ago. It has retained its relevance over time with a series of subtle refinements, without ever straying from its roots. It many ways, it is a perfectly balanced ski, built on the time-tested foundation of wood, metal and carbon. Part of its enduring popularity is that it will dance to whatever tune you want to play. It doesn’t impose its personality on the pilot, but the other way around: whatever one wishes comes true.
The 2023 Brahma hews to this tradition, with yet another slight modification: the core has been given a bit of a trim, so the ski is easier to load. One consequence of this relatively minor tweak is that when choosing between two sizes, it’s possible to go for the stability of a longer length without the bigger ski feeling harder to bend.
Theron Lee, a former coach and current world-class ski tuner and bootfitter, called the modestly modified Brahma 88, “the ultimate all mountain ski. It can go anywhere and do just about anything. Excellent carving capabilities yet easy to drift and scrub. Very smooth and tractable, with a tip that seemed smoother than last years. The thinner core does not affect its strength nor its smoothness, especially in the tip and tail. Lots of power in the tail,” concluded T Lee.
Dallas Goldsmith, one of the rare shop owners who tests nearly everything he sells, called the latest Brahma 88, “One of the best skis in the industry. Has always set the bar in the 88mm category. Flipcore is a beautiful balance of camber and rocker. Made in Austria with metal so it’s a real ski for real skiers.”
If some skiers shy away from the Brahma 88 because they’ve tried an earlier iteration and came away unimpressed, they should reacquaint themselves with its bottomless power reserve. The Brahma 88’s refusal to jump on the Lighter is Better bandwagon pays off in spades when it’s late afternoon and even the groomed runs look like hell warmed over. Don’t forget, the Brahma 88 is the Bonafide 97’s little brother, so it has the same crud-busting genes.
Allow me to quote myself, citing a couple of sentences from Coping with Success, which spoke to how Blizzard dealt with improving an already hot hand. “Models like the Bonafide and Brahma have always used lightweight poplar and higher density beech in the core, but TrueBlend micro-manages how and where the two woods are laminated, altering each model’s flex not just by model, but by size. Lacy tendrils of mocha-colored beech hopscotch around pale, parallel stacks of poplar, distributing density and damping in meticulously targeted doses.”
Not only is the TrueBlend core adapted for every length to maintain an evenly balanced flex, but so is every size’s rocker profile and sidecut. Making every length differently so each feels the same to its intended partner is no mean feat, as the manufacturer is making what amounts to five new skis instead of one.
The reason flex is primordial is because if a ski can be made easier to bend without losing its grip on hard snow, the pilot can use less of his/her precious energy reserve getting from turn to turn. But historically softer skis haven’t been able to withstand the vibrations induced by traveling fast over hard snow, handling as well as a Yugo with bald tires.
So it’s a joy to discover an all-terrain ski with the strength and stability of an Old School GS race ski that can be reined in to less than 40mph and still move edge to edge with the ease of a figure skater. The Brahma 88’s softer extremities allow it to roll over terrain so smoothly it’s as if the ski were part of the flow of the run and not a separate part. In keeping with the best the All-Mountain East genre has to offer, it’s as comfy on glassy groomers as it is in 18-inches of fresh. Like a gifted drummer, it can keep the beat no matter what tune you ask it to play.
“This is a fun, nimble ski,’ says Mark Rafferty from Peter Glenn. “Comfortable in short-radius turns in the steeps, comes around happily in moguls and gives a smooth ride at high speeds. If you prefer a slightly softer feel than the Bonafide without giving up significant performance, the Brahma 88 is worth considering. I never felt that it was doing anything counter to my efforts. I think of this as a friendly ski.”
To keep things friendly, pay close attention to length selection. If you’re not one of the biggest lads on the hill, you don’t need a 189cm. Remember, the Flipcore baseline doesn’t reduce its effective edge length once it’s tipped and pressured, so when you’re between sizes you’re probably better off going shorter, particularly if you like trees, bumps and chutes. In the immortal words of Marcus Caston, you can ski them hard, but they’re not hard to ski.
