2021 Blizzard Brahma 88

The Brahma 88 is back to defend its position as one of the most powerful and precise all-mountain skis. It's made a name for itself over the past half a decade or so due to its powerful feel and tremendous vibration damping. The downside has been that it's a relatively demanding, somewhat unforgiving ski. For 2021, Blizzard has made some changes to retain the powerful nature, but increase maneuverability, forgiveness, and compliance for different turn shapes. We get more length options now and those choices are closer to each other than in past years. That allows a skier to hone in on the correct length more easily, and to support that, they've introduced True Blend technology in the core. Higher density wood is positioned alongside lower density wood in strips, and those strips change location and quantity based on length. In other words, the longer skis are designed to be stiffer, supporting heavier and more aggressive skiers, while the shorter lengths are a little softer.

Marcus Shakun had the opportunity to test both the 183 and 189 cm lengths. "Just when you think the Brahma couldn't get any better. It's more forgiving, it's smoother in and out of turns. It's snappier, making it more playful, while still being quick edge to edge, powerful, stable, and versatile. Sure, it might not float like a Bonafide, but still powerful enough to attack all conditions. It's also been opened up for more skiers to enjoy. Less aggressive skiers will love it in a shorter length and experts will find the longer length the ideal ride." That ability to choose a shorter length for a less aggressive skier is far more effective with new True Blend than ever before. Marcus' final recommendation was that it's "more for that frontside all-mountain guy that likes to rip groomers when they are fresh, then rip some off-piste terrain after he warmed up his legs making trenches on the frontside."

Phil McGrory skied the 183 cm Brahma 88, and we weren't surprised he awarded it 5 out of 5 scores for stability and torsional stiffness/edge grip. Not surprised, but rather glad that our testers didn't think the Brahma 88 lost its power. Rather, it's been refined to be a more well-rounded all mountain ski. "A quicker and nimble version of the Bonafide. The redesigned Brahma 88 is a more natural flexing ski and as a result it's more versatile and more fun. Through the moguls and trees, the ski felt forgiving enough to maneuver through variable terrain, but still had the power with two layers of metal to cut through chopped up snow and crud. Ideal for high intermediate to expert skiers." In the past, we wouldn't have recommended it to an intermediate, even an upper-level intermediate, but this new Brahma 88 is just a touch more approachable than ever before, making it a more appropriate choice for those skiers. Mike Thomas also got to ski the 183 cm length of the new Brahma 88 and gave it a ton of high scores, including 5 out of 5 for stability, quickness/maneuverability, torsional stiffness/edge grip, versatility, and overall impression. Safe to say he likes it. "What a great ski! It really is a strong performer on scrapped off trails that you get by mid-day. Wide enough to ignore the piles of snow, but narrow enough to be quick and dynamic. Great edge hold. New core really lets the ski bend into a clean arc. Again, very, very good edge grip. Just a perfect ski if you're looking for versatility. Carving, bumps, trees, it does it all well."

Our testers were pretty psyched with the new Brahma 88, and all the rest of us at SkiEssentials.com are, too. It's always been a real skier's ski, an absolute ripper. It still is, but now it's more forgiving and easier to manipulate into different turn shapes. The True Blend technology is also really cool and allows you to pick which length will work for you more easily. In traditional ski construction, the shorter lengths were often the stiffest, which doesn't make much sense. True Blend is the opposite, so less aggressive skiers opting for the 165 and 171 cm lengths will find those to be much more manageable, while experts and adrenaline junkies get everything they need out of the longer lengths.