2022/23 Blizzard Black Pearl 88

[jmars]

Question for you shop and ski gurus. My wife is due for an east coast groomer, lower tide do all(ish) ski. Her most favorite ski in the world is the Nordica Nemesis 169….she adores the ski and skis it great or other go too is a Praxis backcountry. From there is a love hate with Kastle Rx70 (~161 I believe, strong ski) and a wild belle that doesn’t see the light of day.

My question surrounds the Black Pearl, current gen. I blindly snagged her the 171 and now may be overthinking it or having buyers remorse and feeling the 166 for how she will use it. She’s a very strong skier that is on any resort terrain but this ski will only be used in the east (VT/NH). Due to rocker and ability we typically size up bc in the past many skis (especially womens) she felt skied short. She was on the Santa Ana 93 171/2 and enjoyed it a lot so we have the Santa Ana 98 as well in a 172 but the BP is the early season/grommer tool here for her.

Any thoughts here 5’4”@125.

Rocker on the BP88 (current) is less than “assumed” but possibly not a deal breaker either with a retune. She’s pumped on them but I’m not sure and not ready to drill yet.

Thanks for the help ski shrinks

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

If she's happy on a 172 Santa Ana 93, why is this even a question?

You're overthinking it.

[jmars]

Thanks….what I assumed. I dove way too deep into the threads of other sites reading how it skis long……outside of race/beer league skis I feel many things ski short and ppl buy way short skis.

Mucho gracias

[DumbIdeasOnly]

My wife thinks the older double metal laminate Santa Ana’s ski way longer than the older Black Pearl. No experience of the current gen of either but doesn’t seem like the Santa Ana has been so neutered or the Black Pearl so beefed up that would change. Honestly, the Santa Ana’s are generally among the more substantial women’s specific skis she’s found (only clearly surpassed by the Volkl Secrets which are shorter Mantras with lady’s top sheets).

+1 to you’re overthinking this.

[alude]

You can see how the BP88 165 and 171 compare to the SA 98 172 here. I choose the 22-23 versions, but you can pick any other year for a better comparison...

I typically look at running length, sidecut length, sidecut radius, weight and stiffnesses to figure out how long/short a ski will feel. You can go in more details, but that gives you a good idea.

The BP88 in both lengths have the same stiffness distributions. It doesn't seem like Blizzard changed the layup much between the two lengths. The 171 will feel longer mostly because of the extra running length (10 cm) and longer sidecut radius. The SA98 172 has a similar stiffness profile to the BP88 (tail is a bit stiffer). However it is tip/tail rocker and has a running length that is 15 cm shorter than the BP88 171. Seems like a lot...

If you wife is looking for something more stable at speed than the SA98, or to be used only on groomers, I might go with the longer length of BP88. But east coast is often full of thigh trees, hard moguls, narrow trails, short resorts, ... The shorter BP88 might be more agile in these conditions.

[jmars]

Thanks all appreciated the help. Alude, you are thinking like me. Sticking with the longer though here