A year ago Blizzard drank a dram of the “Lighter is better!” Kool-Aid and stripped the metal laminates out of the Bodacious. A more visible amendment was the substitution of carbon extensions at the tip and tail to trim further fat and lower swing weight.
The Bodacious went from a battleship to a destroyer, still a formidable vessel, but one more able to maneuver in tight quarters, such as chute entries and trees. Its crash diet notwithstanding, the Bodacious still skis big; it’s hard to overlook a 118mm waist at the heart of a 27m radius sidecut. But it doesn’t ski “look out below!” large; the “Biggest Loser” trim-a-thon it endured last year was a massive ease infusion, giving the Bodacious more fast-twitch muscle.
To create a ski that will charge all day without exhausting its pilot’s energy account, Faction uses its innovative balsa/flax core to keep the weight down, an issue that grows more ponderous with each additional size. (Note that the CT 3.0 can be had in a 204cm, a length not seen in a ski brochure since the last millennium.)
Amply rockered fore (10mm elevation declining over 200mm) and aft (5mm of loft receding 150cm from the tail), the CT 3.0 is an every-terrain ski with a particular aptitude for deep snow. Its shallow sidecut (20m @ 182cm) isn’t made to steer very far out of the fall line, inspiring Bob Gleason of Telluride’s Boot Doctors to inscribe, “For a skilled skier, a great charger. Strong carve with a crisp turn release, with good hold and smooth at speed.”
The CT 2.0 remains a glass laminate ski, which is where it gets its pop, but for 2017 the glass sandwiches a poplar/beech core and the whole stack is capped with a protective shell that rests on the sidewalls. The effect, according to Ty from California Ski Company, is “like a stiffer, better Gunsmoke (narrower of course).” Michael from Footloose pegs the CT 2.0 as a “playful ski for the aggressive skier.”
The Cyclic 115’s ample tip and tail rocker not only disengage the extremities for easier swiveling, their soft flex lets the ski bow in soft snow, compressing the cambered center section and energizing the turn exit. The Cyclic 115 knows how to set a rhythm even white guys can dance to, using its coiled rebound energy to guide the skier into the next move. Whether slashing through freshies or crushing crud, the Cyclic 115 slithers through the snow with the confidence and grace of a professional hoofer.
