Black Pearl 88
Tester: Cara Williams
I have been a part of Blizzard’s Women2Women movement for nearly six years now and the technology that Blizzard has created from our feedback keeps getting better. Enter TrueBlend Woodcore, a game-changing core at the heart of the new Black Pearl 88. During vigorous (yet fun) on-snow testing, the W2W group engaged in myriad conversations that led to the creation of the women-specific Black Pearl collection. The new Black Pearl 88 delivers stability at high speeds and in all types of conditions. Period. The 2020 skis are actually slightly heavier (+150g) than the previous model, but I discovered after only 3 or 4 high speed turns, is that once you click in, the function and performance outweigh the literal weight of a ski – it’s more important to be the right weight than light weight. The new Black Pearl 88 is less nervous, especially on harder and steeper snow, which is partly due to a women-specific Titanal platform in its midsection that runs edge to edge underfoot. The subtle rocker at tip and tail has less contact with the snow, for added float and liveliness. In all conditions the Black Pearl 88 conveyed a smooth and confident feeling that will benefit skiers ranging from novice to expert. Blizzard added a 177cm length and changed to 6cm size breaks that give the buyer more options. Every length is calibrated to create an optimal, round flex that travels well in all conditions.
Bonafide 97
Like all brands, Blizzard is under pressure to periodically renew every corner of its collection. The trick the brand has had to pull off several times is refreshing its successful designs without fundamentally changing them. To alter the Bonafide’s feel without sacrificing its identity is an intricate challenge that Blizzard attacked from the inside out.
A great all-terrain ski begins with a well-balanced flex, which begins with the core. To obtain just the right pressure distribution, thin bands of dense beech are inlaid among poplar laminates, a design Blizzard calls TrueBlend. Each TrueBlend core is optimized not just by model, but by size, as well. In essence, the Bonafide 97 isn’t one new model, but six.
Once Blizzard committed to the TrueBlend core, it reassessed all of its properties, including baseline (the length and severity of the tip and tail rockers) and sidecut. The cumulative effect is that the new Bonafide rolls to the edge compliantly, ready to grip according to the pilot’s dictates of edge angle and pressure.
One of the complaints leveled against earlier editions of the Bonafide was that it favored expert skiers. While that’s still true of the longest length, the charge won’t hold water against the shorter sizes. The Bonafide 97 still favors experts, but only because any great ski is always best appreciated by those with the skills to extract its elite performance.