For most men, a Frontside ski represents a destination, whereas for many women a Frontside ski is part of the journey, a stepping stone that will help her attain the skills experts take for granted.

The new Blizzard Cheyenne is a bit of both, enough ski for the on-piste advanced skier yet possessed of a charitable nature that allows lower skill skiers to progress without feeling intimidated. “Easy to ski for intermediates,” confirmed Shirley from Footloose, ”yet awesome for advanced [skiers] on groomers.”

The secret to the Cheyenne’s dual personality lies in its baseline, a reverse camber affair created by flipping the wood core upside down.  Hence its marketing moniker, Flip Core. The long front rocker melts into the rest of the baseline as soon as the Cheyenne is tipped and pressured, enabling it to earn brilliant scores for carving accuracy despite having one of the more aggressive rockers in the category.

It also earned high marks for short-radius turns despite having a turn radius of 17m in a 170cm, which means the tip tucks into the turn quickly enough to persuade the rider she’s on an ultra-quick stick.  What makes the Cheyenne feel so zippy isn’t so much its shape as its weight.  While Blizzard makes no effort to emphasize the point, the Cheyenne is one of the lightest skis in the genre.