Quick Blade Optic 114 ski review after 1 day:
Mounted my new 178cm 2023 Blade Optic 114s with STH 16s on the rec line (-7 cm). The 178 cm Optic measures same as a 180 cm Rustler btw. I'm ok with the 178cm, as it feels like a substantial ski in hand. For my 5’7”, 168 lbs they never felt too short at -7cm.
Day 1: Whistler in bluebird and packed pow conditions…. soft bumps, soft groomers, some ice, chalky steeps and some packed pow. And no line-ups.
First run. Damn these were kinda burly? The first three runs I was like can I handle these? They’re not soft and they are not that easygoing. I think I’ve gotten lazy skiing Ravens/Hojis so much recently. Which are effortless to ski. But by the 4th lap down Insanity (under Red Chair) the Optics were getting awesome. But you have to ski them. And you can’t be lazy. Basically if you don’t ski the Optic 114 aggressively the tails can buck you. It will ski you. But if you ski them (and don’t weight the tails too much) they reward you. You can drift the tails a bit…if you stay forward and keep the weight off the tails.
They’re heavy as fuck too. By the end of the day I was realizing you can ski really fast on these in lumpy snow and soft bumps. Cause they don’t get knocked around when mach’ing through chop. The Optic 114 feels pretty darn smooth and damp when going over rough, variable snow. Haven’t been on a ski lately that can do this. Felt so stable at speed. Found myself skiiing ahead of my regular ski buddies in some spots.... cause you just want to let these things run.
Will add more thoughts later when I have a few more days on these.
PS Just had a cold frosty IPA. Feeling sleepy? I think I'm damn tired from skiing these.
Glad to have them in the quiver. Here’s some pics from today:
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