Introducing the latest All Mountain Collection. Sponsored by Blizzard/Tecnica.
For the 2020/21 season Blizzard has re-engineered their acclaimed All Mountain Collection. The goal? Nothing less than the ideal balance of efficiency, stability, and performance required to enjoy a full day on the mountain in today’s real-world conditions.
“Each of the skis in this collection have been thoughtfully designed for a specific skier, taking into consideration the terrain they ski, how they ski, where and when, etc.,” explains Jed Duke, Director of Product Marketing. “But one commonality they all share is the reality that on most days, regardless of where they ski, conditions will vary throughout the day. They may start out ideal, but by mid-morning it’s chopped up and only gets more variable as the day goes on. Or maybe it hasn’t snowed in weeks. Whatever the situation, we wanted to design skis that remove conditions from the equation.”
Balanced Flex
It comes down to balanced flex. The way skis bend under your foot throughout those variable conditions dictates the stability, edge grip, and energy you feel. Enter TrueBlend Wood Core – a new way to build the core of a ski, strategically layering various woods not only down the length, but also across the width, like a grid, resulting in a perfectly balanced flex. The tip and tail are softer, which allows you to come into a turn with grace and exit smoothly. Power and stability build with denser woods through the center of the ski, a zone that’s critical for edge grip, speed, and control. When blended with their Flipcore ski-making process and newly designed sidecut and rocker profiles, all of which are different for every length of ski, Blizzard aims to deliver a versatile ski that delivers confidence when skiing through all conditions.
Bringing Clarity to ‘All Mountain’ Category
“We tested these skis from early to late season across three continents,” says Blizzard athlete Marcus Caston. “I was really impressed with everything they could do. You can lay down big carving turns on perfectly groomed runs, but when conditions were dicey they cut right through the crud with little effort. You can ski them hard, but they’re not hard to ski.”
“The All Mountain category is filled with a lot of noise and lacks clarity,” explains Duke. “Skiers come into shops saying they want an all-mountain ski, but don’t really know what that means. Our belief is what they want is a ski that can allow them to ski confidently through changing conditions they see on any given day.”
“When conditions were dicey they cut right through the crud with little effort. You can ski them hard, but they’re not hard to ski.”—Marcus Caston
Women’s BLACK PEARL 88 + 97
It takes a lot of guts and grit to reinvent the best-selling ski. But Blizzard is committed to how they can help improve the skier experience, constantly looking for ways to make a great ski even better. The all-new Black Pearl is just that, designed for intermediate to expert all-mountain skiers who want a stable ski that can handle variable conditions with grace. Redesigned with input from Blizzard’s Women to Women project and Blizzard’s engineers, the TrueBlend Wood Core specifically targets the flex throughout the ski, with a softer tip and tail that keep you nimble and denser wood underfoot that acts like a gas pedal, giving you the power and drive when you want to charge.
The new TrueBlend Wood Core specifically targets the flex throughout the ski, with a softer tip and tail that keep you nimble and denser wood underfoot that acts like a gas pedal…
Combined with a versatile sidecut and a reduced rocker profile, the Black Pearl is the perfect blend of Austrian engineering and real-world testing that’ll keep you skiing confidently, even on those less-than-perfect days.
Men’s BRAHMA 88
Blizzard defines “all-mountain” as a skier who doesn’t colour in the lines. It’s more of a philosophy, a sense of freedom to ski whatever you want on the mountain. The Brahma 88 will give you the ability to seize the snowpack throughout the most frigid temperatures and firm conditions. Compared to its wider brethren in this category, the Brahma 88 utilizes its TrueBlend wood core, two sheets of metal, and reduced rocker profile for a better grip on hard, icy snow.
Save your ski day, save your legs, ski the Brahma.
This ski will take the energy you give it and transfer that power into the snowpack, so you can rip down the mountain with confidence and ease. As the day’s smooth terrain gets eaten up by hungry skiers, the Brahma has the backbone to ski efficiently through crud, which means you’ll be skiing longer (and stronger) than everyone else. Save your ski day, save your legs, ski the Brahma.
Pair with: Tecnica’s New Mach1 MV Series Boot
The all-new Mach1 MV series features the Mach1 MV 130 TD – a mid-volume all-mountain performance boot engineered to improve consistency and efficiency so skiers can charge longer with less fatigue.
“How well your ski boot performs has everything to do with how the boot transfers your energy to the ski and the snow,” says Jed Duke. “Flex plays an important role in that equation, but external factors, such as weather and time, can alter the consistency in flex and leave skiers with uncertainty about how their boots will react.”
The ‘Carbon Spine’
Enter T-Drive – a carbon spine that marries the cuff to the shell, reinforcing the boot’s flex so you can ski with more power and precision in all types of snow, temperatures, and terrain.
This seemingly small addition fundamentally changes the way a ski boot functions by altering how the cuff and shell interact, functioning like a control that regulates the degree to which the boot flexes when pressure is applied. It also reduces shell deformation resulting in a more consistent fit, thereby making the boot warmer.
Precise Fit
In addition to T-Drive, the Mach 1 MV 130 also features all-new anatomically-shaped last that creates a more precise fit out of the box, while shedding weight and improving overall efficiency. Tecnica’s C.A.S. fit system allows boot fitters to further customize fit via heat molding, punching, and grinding, resulting in a stiff, powerful boot that won’t leave skiers in the pain cave.
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