What's Blizzard up to?

[stuckathuntermtn]

Not sure that's what you want on hard snow. The tail rocker on my R11s makes hardpack and ice scary.

[SchralphMacchio]

Yeah I get it. The camber running length should be longer than R11, not quite as loose as R11 (which can still tear up a semi soft groomer btw). I’m just talking about overall personality as to how it should be distinct from the Anomaly.
I don’t know where to draw the actual lines/specs. It’s a balancing act.
I just think that something skinnier than 96 and more playful than a -10.5cm mount, a little more loose on the tail but still having good bite when totally perpendicular to the fall line is a good starting point for discussion.

[VTskibum]

IMO an R8 should be a similar percentage more 'frontside' oriented as R9 is to R10&11. In a 180cm ski ~86mm underfoot, ~10mm less tip/tail rocker, similar mount point as an R9 and similar flex. Think I could pretty easily get along with an Anomaly 88 or Elan Ripstick 88 as well.

[SchralphMacchio]

That all sounds on point to me. And maybe a touch more core thickness and relative ratio of metal to increase bite and damping. I would love to try a ski described as such for low tide.

[brown9]

How does that compare to a Fischer ranger 94 ?


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[Tony911]

Instead of navel gazing paper statistics, how about demoing the ski.It might not be the exact ski you are looking for but the Anomaly 88 is a pretty great all around ski for anything not deep powder.This is not directed at you but all the talk on this site about ramp angles and mounting points is hilarious. Want to know where to mount? How about where all the engineering, computer modelling and test skiers decided was best. You think they just pull that out of a hat?

[gaijin]

Mandatory-- "Don't feed the trolls."

[Self Jupiter]

Am I off base for thinking that Blizzard could really use a Rustler 8?
Intention: low tide all mountain play ski that has decent bite underfoot on firm

Something like 88 mm underfoot, same -8 mount as the rest of the family, tip rocker similar to the Enforcer 94 and a touch more tail rocker than the E94.

I don’t know who else is making 88 waisted skis that carve decently well but also love to pivot and pop and snake around off piste looking for fun when the groomers are too crowded or boring.

Been looking around for the same thing with around a -6 mount point and it’s pretty tough to find. Custom -1 Praxis MvP 94 checks the boxes for me but it’s not the type of ski I feel like spending a lot on. I’d use them as a low snow ski in New England.

[SchralphMacchio]

Been looking around for the same thing with around a -6 mount point and it’s pretty tough to find. Custom -1 Praxis MvP 94 checks the boxes for me but it’s not the type of ski I feel like spending a lot on. I’d use them as a low snow ski in New England.

If you are smaller like me and don’t need metal, these specs and price for last year’s model are really really intriguing.

https://www.coalitionsnow.com/produc...-that-glitters

I do want some metal though, our resort at 5k elevation gets some gnarly variable high water content refreeze.

[Self Jupiter]

If you are smaller like me and don’t need metal, these specs and price for last year’s model are really really intriguing.

https://www.coalitionsnow.com/produc...-that-glitters

I do want some metal though, our resort at 5k elevation gets some gnarly variable high water content refreeze.

Cool, thanks, never heard of this company or ski. Wish it came in a 180-185 length otherwise it looks ideal.

[SchralphMacchio]

They are a small production women-focused women-owned brand out of Reno NV, been active for 10 years now. They claim to use a factory that has a decades of manufacturing experience, so I’m curious who is pressing for them.

I got my wife Icelantic Maiden 111 skis last year and she loved them in softish snow, so I promised to find her a similar personality skinny ski for hardpack days. Maidens are also -8 and heavily rockered on both ends, very loose and pivoty, but the skinny Maiden seemed to be more park and freestyle focused … and the recent graphics weren’t as appealing as 2022-23 vintage that’s been super hard to chase down.

How this is relevant to this thread: I’ve been thinking about a Sheeva 9 for my wife as being pretty spot on, having a personality similar to the Maiden, way more bite on firm, and more damp on frozen crap, but the Coalition Rebel will have less overlap in that 2-6” of fresh range where a Sheeva 9 can still play nicely - so it will be a very clear decision choice about whether to grab the Rebels or Maiden 111s.

In 100% honesty, my wife is going to decide on 2025 Sheeva 9s vs 2026 Sheevas vs 2024 Rebels vs 2025 Rebels based on topsheet graphic, not based on damping on frozen chunder [emoji854]

My local shop buyer told me to expect much much more appealing Blizzard graphics for 2026 for men and women, as he saw them at the last buyers event, but obviously that stuff is still under embargo for another month or so.

[gregL]

Appealing graphics are in the eye of the beholder. PM me if you want a peak at what they will look like.

[Spooky]

The 2026 Rustler 11 graphic could be seen at the end of Peiffer's KH FWT run. I like the change up from how they've looked in the past few years.