Reveiw: Atomic Blog, Volkl Katana, Blizzard One, Volkl Bridge

[VTskibum]

(Apparently I can't spell Review, nor can edit the threat title)

Me: 5' 11" 165 lbs, early 30s, 20+ days/yr (PA, VT, West US), no racing background, can carve turns of various sizes and speeds, ski moderately fast, forwards only. Been skiing for 15+ years all over North America, low expert skier in ability i guess, very few hucks.
Skis owned: 185 Praxis Pow, 188 Dynastar Bigs (replacing these), 175 Volkl GS Race ski, 165 Dyna SL race ski
Skis disliked: Pocket Rockets, Dynastar Bigs in anything tight/trees

My goal was to replace the Bigs, no metal but they're too damn heavy & long for EC tree skiing (I've lost 25 lbs since I bought them). Wanted something around 100mm underfoot, <25m turn radius, and around 180cm w/ some rocker. Going into this was primarily interested in Rossi S3, Blizz One's, and new Gotama; didn't get a chance to demo S3 or Gotama's.

Blizzard One's 177
Demo'd at Smugglers Notch in early Feb, 6-8" day old powder. Expected to love these, ended up kinda blah for me. Carved great turns on groomed, worked fine, but didn't click for me in the trees. I'm chalking it up to a bad day, but wasn't wowed. Did love the idea of the plate, but concerned about the single screw holding it together.

Volkl Bridge 179 (2011 w/ ELP)
Skied these at Jay Peak during a storm 6-8", liked these much better than the Blizzards from the day before. Continuous subtle rocker was great for tree skiing and bumps. Better than expected in steeps off the tram and carved a nice turn. Definitely more all mountain than park ski, quite a bit softer than a Mantra, but still had good rebound/pop.

Volkl Katana 176 (2011 with ELP)
Demo'd at Jay Peak after Bridge. Felt super short in the 176, which was great for tight/steep trees at Jay, but probably limiting elsewhere. Smeared turns great, could carve a good turn if ridden from center and on edge. Was looking for a 183 which I think would be perfect for me, as I would sacrifice groomer performance for everything else. Off-piste this could pivot/smear as well as lock into a carved turn very well. My favorite ski I tested this year.

Atomic Blog 177
Demo'd @ Solitude day after a 18"+ storm. Was on Praxis Pows for previous incredible pow-day and switched to my Bigs for day-after, and immediately was missing tip/tail rocker & width in tight steep trees with deep leftover pow. Gapper-ed the hell out of Evergreen with some local friends. Picked up the Blogs for the afternoon and was surprised by their versatility. Sun baked leftovers, untracked and tracked pow, groomers, bumps, steep/tight trees worked well in all of them. Tight turn radius worked great for GS turns on groomers, quick in trees and floated well (Honeycomb opened in the afternoon 18+ untracked) for such a short ski. Not much press or hype on these as they weren't outstanding at anything but were good at everything.

In the end I wanted 183 Katana's w/ ELP but couldn't find a great price on them (600+ was cheapest), so I bought some Blogs in a 177 on closeout new (wanted 185). Think they'll be a good ski for anything soft on east coast, great in tight trees, and will be a great everyday west ski. I'll be skiing my Praxis on big days, and will likely have to make more turns in wide open stuff than I'm used to on the Blogs, but think it's a good compromise for how they'll be in tight trees, bumps, and groomers.

Summer update if anybody cares - Picked up 183 Katanas, so now wil have some head-to-head comparison between Blogs and Katana's. The 183 Katana is really only ~3cm longer, but has considerably less tail. Considering my current location (PA) the number of Pow ski's I now own is rediculous.

[Beyond]

Could you expand on the One's not clicking for you in the trees? Ask because I'm your size, demoed some 177's. had different impression. Was it the lack of serious rocker, or the tail, what didn't they do that you wanted? Thanks.

[VTskibum]

As I said I certainly could be tainted by a bad day, but just wasn't in love with them. I think they may have been a bit under-gunned width wise to make them really stand out in the deep trees (which i usually would be on my praxis) for the day. Not sure if I was bogged down or wasn't getting the smeary feel that the Katanas (and my praxis) provide, which was what I was trying to force them to do. This is where I think the Blog would have been a bit better just due to the width and a bit more tip/tale height to float a bit more at these somewhat low speeds in the trees. I think they carve turns on groomers about the same.

I still think they're a great ski and had them on my short list, but it's hard to get over the feeling. If I'd had a different day it could be a totally different outcome. Obviously all of these reviews have some bias and the conditions of the day are prevalent when demoing something for 1 day.