Blizzard Brahma, or, will my quiver overlap too much?

[Philpug]

My first Salomon S9000 1S PR8's were 212's...I remember skiing them in the bumps.

 

[nomad_games]

Ski your Brahma and ski it most of your ski days. This ski width is much more versatile than marketers would have you believe. When you get your skiing dialed, you will find less need for a broad, incrementally spaced quiver like you've mentioned above.. Do an 88, and a dedicated powder/soft snow ski (110'ish to 118). Two and done.

If you get a third pair and are really committed to improving your skiing as you say, pick up a dedicated frontside carver, grab a Bonafide rather than a Brahma, do a 110-118, get regular coaching, and make sure your boots are dialed. Three and done.

All just my HO of course.

just wanted to pop back in here and say that this ^ was excellent advice and I should have listened. I ended up buying 4 pairs of skis. The Brahma, Rustler 10, Rustler 11, and Spur. After a few months on them, I am down to just the Brahma and Rustler 11 (not counting my backcountry skis) and am totally happy with that. If there's soft snow, Rustlers. If there isn't, Brahmas. I wouldn't mind adding a really great powder only ski like a DPS Wailer 112. I also think I would have been pretty right on with the 3 ski setup mentioned above of a frontside carver, the Bonafide or Rustler 10, and a fat pow ski, mostly because the Brahma sucks in soft snow so I usually take my Rustler 11's, being in Colorado where the snow is usually soft so far this season. However, between those two skis I've pretty much got it covered. The Rustler 11 is suprisingly good in hard snow or on groomers, so anything the Brahma wont do, the Rustler will.

 

[ivo-king]

just wanted to pop back in here and say that this ^ was excellent advice and I should have listened. I ended up buying 4 pairs of skis. The Brahma, Rustler 10, Rustler 11, and Spur. After a few months on them, I am down to just the Brahma and Rustler 11 (not counting my backcountry skis) and am totally happy with that. If there's soft snow, Rustlers. If there isn't, Brahmas. I wouldn't mind adding a really great powder only ski like a DPS Wailer 112. I also think I would have been pretty right on with the 3 ski setup mentioned above of a frontside carver, the Bonafide or Rustler 10, and a fat pow ski, mostly because the Brahma sucks in soft snow so I usually take my Rustler 11's, being in Colorado where the snow is usually soft so far this season. However, between those two skis I've pretty much got it covered. The Rustler 11 is suprisingly good in hard snow or on groomers, so anything the Brahma wont do, the Rustler will.

After reading endless reviews all over the web, your post and thread spoke the clearest to me as I am in almost the exact same situation as you were originally. Thus I made an account here on pugski and thought I'd ask this group and you directly. Similar to you, I avoid groomers, and seek out trees, softer snow and bumps here in CO, more specifically Winter Park is my home mountain. So far I've used my older K2 Pinnacle 95 in 177cm which will be my dedicated rock skis moving forward. But as soon as the snow base is deep enough, my new quiver will have a chance to shine, covid-gods allowing.

I picked up a pair of Rustler 10s recently for the upcoming season as my go-to, but was also looking for something narrower underfoot to take into the bumps and trees, especially on the days when no new snow. I am determined to get better in the moguls and plan on taking some lessons in WP, another reason I wanted something narrower as I don't want to show up for a bump lesson in 102mm underfoot. The search led me to the Brahma model, which is also the best-in-bumps frontside model in last year's Blister reviews. So I placed an order for the 180cm Brahmas earlier today. However after further research down the internet rabbit hole, it seems that Brahma's stiffness is quite unforgiving for someone like me that ends up in the back seat a lot in the bumps. Also they are heavier due to 2 sheets of metal in them, making them harder to make quick switches required in the bumps and some tighter trees. Before they ship I still have a possibility to change the order to the Bushwacker model, which seems is lighter (no metal), and softer and more forgiving than the Brahma, especially for my purpose.

Thus my question is - should I change the order to the Bushwackers from Brahmas as they are the exact same price? Same 180cm size.

I am 6'1", 190 lbs, pretty athletic and strong, but I ski slow as I have no desire for speed as I look to continue improving my technique.

 

[Philpug]

After reading endless reviews all over the web, your post and thread spoke the clearest to me as I am in almost the exact same situation as you were originally. Thus I made an account here on pugski and thought I'd ask this group and you directly. Similar to you, I avoid groomers, and seek out trees, softer snow and bumps here in CO, more specifically Winter Park is my home mountain. So far I've used my older K2 Pinnacle 95 in 177cm which will be my dedicated rock skis moving forward. But as soon as the snow base is deep enough, my new quiver will have a chance to shine, covid-gods allowing.

I picked up a pair of Rustler 10s recently for the upcoming season as my go-to, but was also looking for something narrower underfoot to take into the bumps and trees, especially on the days when no new snow. I am determined to get better in the moguls and plan on taking some lessons in WP, another reason I wanted something narrower as I don't want to show up for a bump lesson in 102mm underfoot. The search led me to the Brahma model, which is also the best-in-bumps frontside model in last year's Blister reviews. So I placed an order for the 180cm Brahmas earlier today. However after further research down the internet rabbit hole, it seems that Brahma's stiffness is quite unforgiving for someone like me that ends up in the back seat a lot in the bumps. Also they are heavier due to 2 sheets of metal in them, making them harder to make quick switches required in the bumps and some tighter trees. Before they ship I still have a possibility to change the order to the Bushwacker model, which seems is lighter (no metal), and softer and more forgiving than the Brahma, especially for my purpose.

Thus my question is - should I change the order to the Bushwackers from Brahmas as they are the exact same price? Same 180cm size.

I am 6'1", 190 lbs, pretty athletic and strong, but I ski slow as I have no desire for speed as I look to continue improving my technique.

I don't think the Bushwacker will be enough for you and while it might be OK in some situations, I don't think there is enough to switch from the Brahmas being 6'1" and 190. There are choices that fall in between that might have come characteristics that could be better, again in some situations but not enough for me to say, "No, move off of the Brahma for X, Y and Z reasons." You struck oil with the Brahma, no need to keep drilling.

 

[ivo-king]

I don't think the Bushwacker will be enough for you and while it might be OK in some situations, I don't think there is enough to switch from the Brahmas being 6'1" and 190. There are choices that fall in between that might have come characteristics that could be better, again in some situations but not enough for me to say, "No, move off of the Brahma for X, Y and Z reasons." You struck oil with the Brahma, no need to keep drilling.

Muchas gracias. One more part of the puzzle that I should have included originally - considering my size, they also have the Bushwacker in 187 length, but I understand longer is not necessarily better in the moguls. Still Brahmas?

 

[Philpug]

Still Brahmas?

Yup. now you can lament what binding to get.

 

[DocGKR]

Look Pivot 15 of course!

 

[ivo-king]

Yup. now you can lament what binding to get.

They come with Marker Griffon bindings. I ordered from Corbetts in Canada, here.

$558 Canadian, which came to only $441 USD for Brahmas with Griffons delivered, but not mounted. I thought it was a pretty good price. I just hope I am not missing something with the customs or something silly like that. Thanks again guys!

 

[coachmdd]

Don’t know anyone here personally or from on hill time.
That said, the idea of a 4 ski quiver sounds like a guy who buys a ton of wine to cellar then has to dump bottles because he bought more than he could drink before they aged out on him.

 

[Philpug]

Don’t know anyone here personally or from on hill time.
That said, the idea of a 4 ski quiver sounds like a guy who buys a ton of wine to cellar then has to dump bottles because he bought more than he could drink before they aged out on him.

Not true, there is been a good amount of discussion of what the perfect size quiver is, 4? Well 5 is a nice number, 6 is divisible by 2 or 3...7 is a lucky number, 8 is an homage to making powder 8's, 9 is for the die in the wool Beatles fans, 10 gets you into double digits, 11, well that looks like two skis, 12, at this point you might as well go to a bakers dozed of 13....

With all that said, the perfect quiver is N+1. N is the current amount of skis in your quiver plus that other one you desire.

 

[KingGrump]

Don’t know anyone here personally or from on hill time.
That said, the idea of a 4 ski quiver sounds like a guy who buys a ton of wine to cellar then has to dump bottles because he bought more than he could drink before they aged out on him.

Never know. Some of us are winos.

A 4 ski quiver is a relatively small quiver for those on skis 100+ days per season.
A pair of skis is only good for 80 days before they get sloppy. Planned obsolescence.

 

[BMC]

Hey skipeople,

I unloaded all of my last season skis at a ski swap this weekend, so I'm on to my changes for this year. I'm thinking a quiver like this:

• Frontside/bumps/carving ski. I'm not a great carver and just an ok bumps skier, my main goal for this season is to be the best skier I can by the end of the season, and bumps and excellent carving skills are up there for me.
• Daily Driver, all mountain, around 100-105 underfoot. Charger that can still be playful, or a playful ski with backbone.
• Soft snow, backside, 50/50, sidecountry, chutes and backbowls and trees ski, around 110-114
• Fat pow ski. Need of this one is debatable, I suppose. Would probably be covered by the above ski.

Does that seem sensible? I'm in CO, Ikon Pass, skied around 60 days last season, aiming for more this season. 5'10, 200, ski fairly aggressively but not the best on the mountain. Spend most of my time on blacks, some double blacks, almost entirely off piste except bumps.

I'm thinking:

• Blizzard Brahma or Bushwacker for frontside/bumps
• Blizzard Rustler 10 or Black Crows Atris for daily driver
• Rustler 11 for fatter/backside ski
• Blizzard Spur pr Atomic Bent Chetler 120 for deep pow ski

Is there too much overlap here (mostly with the Rustler 11/spur/bent Chetler)? Also, my thinking with the Brahma/Bushwacker is to use it to focus on bumps and carving, both of which I intend to take classes on this season. Should I do Brahma or Bushwacker if I go that route? I'm thinking I could maybe also get away with a 2 ski quiver of just the Rustler 10/Atris and Rustler 11/Bent Chetler 120, and then my backcountry skis.

I really like the quiver, but think the powder ski on top of your 110-114mm waisted ski is unnecessary. 100-114 underfoot is plenty.

I realise youve probably filled the quiver now, but there it is! I’ll check the rest of the thread to see what you did. I love a mystery!!

 

[BMC]

After reading endless reviews all over the web, your post and thread spoke the clearest to me as I am in almost the exact same situation as you were originally. Thus I made an account here on pugski and thought I'd ask this group and you directly. Similar to you, I avoid groomers, and seek out trees, softer snow and bumps here in CO, more specifically Winter Park is my home mountain. So far I've used my older K2 Pinnacle 95 in 177cm which will be my dedicated rock skis moving forward. But as soon as the snow base is deep enough, my new quiver will have a chance to shine, covid-gods allowing.

I picked up a pair of Rustler 10s recently for the upcoming season as my go-to, but was also looking for something narrower underfoot to take into the bumps and trees, especially on the days when no new snow. I am determined to get better in the moguls and plan on taking some lessons in WP, another reason I wanted something narrower as I don't want to show up for a bump lesson in 102mm underfoot. The search led me to the Brahma model, which is also the best-in-bumps frontside model in last year's Blister reviews. So I placed an order for the 180cm Brahmas earlier today. However after further research down the internet rabbit hole, it seems that Brahma's stiffness is quite unforgiving for someone like me that ends up in the back seat a lot in the bumps. Also they are heavier due to 2 sheets of metal in them, making them harder to make quick switches required in the bumps and some tighter trees. Before they ship I still have a possibility to change the order to the Bushwacker model, which seems is lighter (no metal), and softer and more forgiving than the Brahma, especially for my purpose.

Thus my question is - should I change the order to the Bushwackers from Brahmas as they are the exact same price? Same 180cm size.

I am 6'1", 190 lbs, pretty athletic and strong, but I ski slow as I have no desire for speed as I look to continue improving my technique.

I think the Brahmas would be great. I own them. While they are a relatively stiff ski, I think sometimes the magazine reviews feel like they talk up the “expert only, kick butt” reputation. If you’re skidding your turns, they won’t be a great choice. But if you have sound technique they’re a great choice including in bumps.

 

[ivo-king]

I think the Brahmas would be great. I own them. While they are a relatively stiff ski, I think sometimes the magazine reviews feel like they talk up the “expert only, kick butt” reputation. If you’re skidding your turns, they won’t be a great choice. But if you have sound technique they’re a great choice including in bumps.

Thank you for the input, I hear what you are saying. I do skid my turns often, but no time like this season to continue changing that. I still haven't figured out how to turn on the notifications for the thread, which is why my reply and thank you is a bit late. Cheers!