2017 Blizzard Samba
1

Ski Stats

Sidecut 131/98/116
Radius 18m @ 159cm
Lengths 152,159,166,173
Weight 1500g +/- 50g @ 159cm
MSRP $780
FIND
3
1
0
The key to the Samba’s go-anywhere attitude lies in its Flip Core baseline that predisposes the forebody to ride over anything in front of it without disconnecting it from the rest of the ski. As soon as the Samba is laid over, the skier can depend on every centimeter of the ski supporting her. Secure enough on edge to carve all day, the Samba saves its best moves for soft snow, where it helps the uninitiated learn to mix smearing and steering into a lively downhill dance.

The new Blizzard Samba switched from a bamboo core that included two channels of foam to one made from poplar and beech and actually lost weight. The magic pill enabling this metamorphous is the usual culprit, carbon, applied here in a unidirectional frame encasing the entire ski. The net effect is a more torsionally stiff ski that’s lighter and less fatiguing to drive all day.

The 2016 Samba was our top Power Pick last season; our hard-charging crew feels the new version gives up a measure of the old Samba’s ample power supply in order to broaden the 2017 Samba’s appeal to those less accomplished. “Way more versatile than its predecessor,” confides Kelli Gleason of Telluride’s Boot Doctors.

The key to the Samba’s go-anywhere attitude lies in its Flip Core baseline that predisposes the forebody to ride over anything in front of it without disconnecting it from the rest of the ski. As soon as the Samba is laid over, the skier can depend on every centimeter of the ski supporting her. Secure enough on edge to carve all day, the Samba saves its best moves for soft snow, where it helps the uninitiated learn to mix smearing and steering into a lively downhill dance.

Find this ski at the following Realskiers Test Centers

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Test Score Data

Total Score: 79.17
Early to Edge:
Continuous Carve:

Rebound/Turn Finish:

Stability/Accuracy @ Speed:
Short-radius Turning:
7.83
8.33
8.00
8.17
7.50
Off-piste Performance:
Low-speed Turning:
Forgiveness/Ease:
Drift/Scrub:
Finesse/Power Balance:
8.33
7.17
7.67
8.33
7.83

Women’s Test Data Advisory

Please be advised that our 2022 women’s ski reviews do not show any test data, on either our public or members’ sites. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we haven’t been able to collect sufficient test results to justify showing a statistical summary.

While Realskiers members won’t be able to see stats on women’s reviews, they will see a longer, more in-depth narrative than what’s posted on our public site.

We appreciate your continued support through these troublesome times.