All mountain skis
Product 2021
Man
We were fortunate to test the new Brahma that has been modified underfoot, the structure was hardened. This ski bewildered our testers.
The first sensation is its super glide. It carves easily and on hardpack the Blizzard Brahma 88 makes a characteristic sound as if the tip is hollow.
This ski is light underfoot and it’s amplified by its ease at pivoting; the testers loved it. But as soon as you are in powder, mounds of snow or snow that’s a little lumpy, the vibrations travel up into your legs. You lose its fluidity and pleasure. These feelings aren’t very reassuring, you have to hang on and really push down.
In powder be careful of the imbalances up front, the Blizzard Brahma 88 dives rapidly despite having a high-lifted tip. But you have to take it easy because with 88mm waist it is an all mountain ski. It isn’t really designed for dynamic off piste. Anyway, other skis are more performant with this die cut such as the Nordica Enforcer.
On groomed slopes the Blizzard Brahma 88 reaches a great long radius and it can’t get out of it. If you go onto the edge the radius is 17.5 meters. If you want to modify the turn it’s a complicated operation: there seems to be a stiff zone underfoot. A heavy skier could do something but a skier weighing 70kg would find it tough to change. Any imbalance leaning back produces under turning and it pulls straight ahead on hardpack and it’s not fun. So, you need to keep it intact and sequence long turns. Whilst doing this it accelerates and it’s not easy to control and without any possibilities to change the radius.
You can easily put the skis crossways, which is reassuring. Once on the edge on softer snow it rides fluidly and is pleasant, if you try stronger angles you will find its limits. You quickly cotton on that you shouldn’t push it too hard because it will lose its grip on hardpack as soon as you have the slightest imbalance to the rear. It’s easy to lose balance; between the rigid waist and flexible tip.
A heavy-built skier can manage the tail and the stiffness at the waist, but it’s a lot more difficult for others to drive the ski correctly and stay on top of its speed, so it’s not at all reassuring in terms of grip.
The Blizzard Brahma 88 isn’t a very balanced ski, it’s too hard and you lose fluidity. Its design is very classic: a small Brahma metal insert , but nothing else in particular except the very beautiful die cut base.
We were disappointed by this Blizzard Brahma 88. We were expecting an easy ski, fluid and versatile. By stiffening this new version, it lost its qualities and versatility. The new Brahma is for expert skiers who can work its flex.
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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