The fraternal relationship between Blizzard’s two All-Mountain East entries, the elder brother Brahma 88 and its upstart sibling, the Rustler 9, encapsulates the contrasting cast of characters that populate this crossroads category. While both skis belong to off-trail families, their personalities couldn’t be more different than, well, two brothers.
Put in Realskiers’ terms, the Brahma 88 is a Power ski while the Rustler 9 is a Finesse ski. The Brahma 88’s best scores are for performance criteria like carving accuracy and stability at speed; its GPA drops off for comfort qualities like forgiveness and low-speed turning. The Rustler 9’s marks reveal a model with a high aptitude for off-trail conditions with a peppy personality that’s easy to get along with. It’s not that it’s bad at edging, it’s just doesn’t care for the regimented lifestyle of a carving ski. It prefers life off-trail where it has the freedom to smear every turn.
Twenty-five years ago, Jason Levinthal began making skiboards, skis just long enough to make room for a primitive, non-releasable binding. Because they were first, foremost and forever about tricks, they had curled-up tips at both ends. It wasn’t long before Jason graduated to making full-length twin-tips, which attracted the attention of kids who wanted to take skiing in a new direction. Little by little, Line infiltrated the mass market, not by adopting its rules, but by being change agents who would help redefine the sport.
Just how high Line has climbed in market share is hard to say since online sales bypass monitored retailing, but it’s safe to assume Line has been the most successful start-up since its inception. Because the kids who continue to be its principal patrons are all about breaking the rules and taking the party to the slopes, its communications focus on fat, smeary powder skis and terrain-park twins.
But Line might not have made it to 25 if it hadn’t been for skiers over 40. For several seasons it cultivated quite a following for its Prophet series, all-mountain tools with an oddly trimmed topsheet of metal that gave them power that a lightweight skier could engage. This same principle is what helps the Supernatural 92 strike a balance between Power and Finesse properties that tilts slightly towards the latter because of its off-trail personality.
This is going to seem like an odd way to begin a review of the returning Line Sick Day 104, but if you love skiing powder – and I know you do – you have got to ski the 19/20 version of the Sir Francis Bacon. One of Eric Pollard’s original signature models, the SFB has been subjected to a series of tweaks over its long tenure. Now something very much like the original (143/107/139) is back, and it’s crazy good.
As for the Sick Day 104, the narrowest of Line’s Big Mountain bunch, it’s like the bright, bored student who could get good grades for edge grip but would rather skip class than let The Man tell it how to ski. Its natural tendency is to show up a little late for the turn, gradually roll up on its side then bank off its broad base to finish the arc. Given a choice between drifting and carving, the Sick Day 104 will take the slacker route every time.
Twenty years ago Dynastar produced a signature ski for Jeremy Nobis – then regarded as the game-changing big mountain skier of his generation – called the Inspired. The point behind this oblique introduction to the Legend X 106 is that the Legends of today aren’t made for the Jeremy Nobises of this world. Instead of being stiffer than the norm, the Legend X 106 gets its silky ride by deliberately softening the forebody so it will conform to irregular terrain when driven at recreational speeds. What makes the modern Legend X 106 more malleable than its ancestors is a 3-piece sidewall called Powerdrive.
Developed for its Speed Zone race skis – albeit with a different mix of materials – Powerdrive breaks up the bond between the laminates in the core and the rigid outer sidewall. Without heavy Titanal laminates to cast a cloud over its inherently peppy personality, the Legend X 106 feels quicker to the edge than the norm among Big Mountain models.
In keeping with the inverted world of women’s Frontside skis, where true carvers are nearly extinct and off-trail baselines are increasingly the norm, the Line Pandora 84 has its scores backward. It’s no more a Power ski than Taylor Swift is a power lifter; it’s a soft, buttery, compliant little cupcake of a ski that holds a nice edge all along the camber zone in its modestly rockered baseline.
When one considers Line’s dewy-cheeked demographic and the Pandora 84’s below-market price, it becomes clear just who this ultralight all-terrain ski is for: Miss Teen America, that’s who. It’s not for the ex-racer or the off-piste adventurer, but the girl next door who just wants to have fun. Line will turn 25 this year, yet it’s never lost touch with the youth market from which it draws its inspiration and its energy.
