Blizzard’s Flipcore baseline, the heart and soul of the Black Pearl 98, has probably been the most commercially successful execution of a double-rockered baseline since rocker first reared its ugly head (and tail) over a decade ago. Flipcore certainly has left a mark on the women’s market, where the Black Pearl franchise is a well-oiled sales machine.
The Black Pearl 98 isn’t the sales phenom that it’s little sister is, but then nothing can match the records being set by the Black Pearl 88. The reason for the sales imbalance is simple: the BP 88 is an everyday ski, the proverbial one-ski quiver if ever there was one. While the BP 98 could be the regular ride if the pilot is a strong skier, both physically and technically, but more often than not it’s going to a second pair reserved for powder and powder-ish days.
Whether or not the Black Pearl 98 is right for you is answered by a simple equation. If you spend half your ski day (or more) as far from groomers as you can get, the Black Pearl 98 is your ideal mate. If you’re spending more than half your time on prepared slopes, hook up with its little sister.
This ski shouldn’t be here. Skis with a patently off-piste baseline have no business infiltrating the ranks of Frontside models, by definition the domain of deep sidecuts and highly arched camber lines. How does a ski whose Flipcore baseline is practically already bowing manage to mingle with the second cousins of true race skis? If a sitcom producer cast a story about the Frontside category, all the proper club members would be draped in Armani, while the brash Brahma 82 would crash the party in flip-flops, jams and a tattered tee.
In short, the Brahma 82 is here because it’s so damn easy and fun to ski. It’s one of a tiny minority of Frontside skis with a higher Finesse score than Power score. Of course, it’s ease of use wouldn’t mean squat if it couldn’t hold on hard snow, but the Brahma 82 grips ferociously because beneath its mellow exterior beats the heart of a lion. Two end-to-end sheets of Titanal are sandwiched with layers of multi-directional fiberglass around a poplar and beech core. Throw in a dab of carbon in the tip to keep the swingweight down and a dampening platform underfoot and you have many of the same components that power the rest of the genre’s best skis.
The only change to the Blizzard Brahma for 20/20 is the addition of “88” to its moniker, the better to distinguish it from its new little brother, the Brahma 82. As surface area roughly equates to flotation and ease of operation in irregular, off-trail conditions, the Brahma 88 remains the better choice as a one-ski quiver. While we are encouraged by the trend to narrower skis, there’s no doubt that from the perspective of terrain versatility, a wider ski offers more benefits than liabilities.
The Brahma 88 has been among the top models in the All-Mountain East genre since it’s debut. The reasons for its sustained popularity are several, beginning with its Flipcore construction. To give you an idea of how different Flipcore construction is, when you get a Flipcore ski like the Brahma too hot when ironing on wax, the ski will try to revert to its originally molded position, revealing that it inherent camber is upside down. (BTW, don’t do this, please.)
Primary among Flipcore’s virtues is that there is no stress where the relatively mild tip and tail rocker connects with the middle of the ski; when the ski is tipped and pressured, the full length of the ski comes into play. An added benefit is that the ski follows terrain brilliantly, a big bonus in crud bumps. If the skier wants a little more oomph out of the turn, dual multi-directional fiberglass laminates provide energy on demand.
I readily admit to an engrained bias in favor of the Blizzard Bonafide, as a pair has lived in the first row of my ski locker since its inception. I take them everywhere I go because I’m confident there’s no condition on earth they cannot ski, and ski well.
The Bonafide has remained a perennial all-star for skiers because it’s built on sound fundamentals: a wood core made from poplar and beech sandwiched between laminates of multi-directional glass and Titanal. Its Flipcore design connects to the edge early, with no disruption in the snow connection from the modestly rockered forebody through the midsection to its flat, supportive tail.
If one wished to pick a nit, it could be argued that the Bonafide is geared for the more skilled skier. But this is true of virtually all the more torsionally rigid models in the All-Mountain West genre. If you want to tone it down a bit, get it in a shorter length and you, too, can experience one of the greatest skis ever made.
