2nd Look: 2012-2013 Blizzard GunSmoke

Back in Alta I tried to get the GunSmoke out in a variety of conditions. As I mentioned before, its width, length, and shape match up with what I personally prefer to use just about daily here at Alta.

I wasn’t really surprised that taking the GunSmoke out in firmer snow was a mix of greatness and hard work. When the terrain and snow conditions allowed for fast, carving turns, the GunSmoke came alive. Although it didn’t offer nearly as much stability as its stronger brothers, it felt most at home when allowed to run, leaving behind two clean arcs through the snow. There was a definite speed limit with its soft tips and tails, but when the snow is smooth enough, the GunSmoke loves to fly. On groomers, the ski absolutely railed turns.

In the tighter and steeper terrain of Eagle’s Nest, I again found the GunSmoke to be a little slow at drawing the tip into each new turn, which therefore required a bit more pushing around of the ski than I prefer. Also, the ski’s seeming lack of energy out of each turn also meant more input from the skier to get from turn to turn.

Taking the skis into the super playful, open, and mellower terrain of the Wildcat area, I felt like I had found a home for the GunSmoke. Here, I could blast a couple quick turns at the top of a pitch, then let the skis run, carving my way down to one of the many hidden kickers, launch a 3 or something, come to a stop, and reset for the next little mini-golf zone.

My time on the GunSmoke left me asking a couple of questions. (1) Did I think the GunSmoke was playful enough to give up the overall stability and versatility of a ski like the Cochise? And (2) did the ski outperform a playful ski like the Line Mr. Pollard’s Opus, which is designed to be extremely playful yet still get around the mountain relatively well? The GunSmoke didn’t persuade me to take it over either the Cochise or the Opus. But (3) what about as a hybrid, one-ski quiver contender—a ski that isn’t as burly as the Cochise or as playful as the Opus, but like the Rossignol Sickle, performs well across the board? Again, for me, the GunSmoke just didn’t measure up.

Blizzard fans who have been waiting for a more playful ski in their freemountain lineup will appreciate the true twin tip and softer flex of the GunSmoke. Like the Cochise, the GunSmoke carves like hell, holds an edge extremely well, and feels similar in the way it flexes and releases out of a turn.

But to me, neither the Blizzzard Bonafide, Cochise or GunSmoke felt particularly snappy unless aggressively flexed. Doing a tail ollie on the GunSmoke revealed a lack of pop, and at times, the tails just washed out. When I moved the bindings forward quite a bit, I could certainly get more out of the tail, but then I felt like I had to ski in the backseat because the soft tips offered little support.

On a further point of comparison, the Bonafide, Cochise, and GunSmoke all felt to me that they could have been a few millimeters wider in the tip to help them pull through a skidded turn, as in quick turns through trees and bumps.

I found the Cochise to be by far the best of the three skis; it easily smears and slashes when you want, but still loves to rail and go fast. But the various design characteristics of the GunSmoke didn’t seem to me to work as well together. I look for consistency in a ski, and in the GunSmoke, the soft tip and tail didn’t pair well with the stiff flex underfoot. And the steep rocker profile didn’t feel synced to the sidecut. If, however, Blizzard had kept the GunSmoke a bit closer to the design of the Cochise—gave the Cochise a twin tip and carbon—I think it would be amazing.