2022 Blizzard Firebird WRC

With a narrower waist and a longer turn radius versus the HRC, the 2022 Blizzard Firebird WRC is much more like the World Cup race ski, but still has a friendlier flex and shape than the real race room sticks. That’s going to be just fine with most skiers who are using these WRC skis as either a recreational race carver or as a beer league GS ski. Built with a performance wood core, two sheets of metal, and two laminates of carbon the WRC is not here to play games. Instead, these skis are perfect for the former (or current) racer or expert skier who’s looking to grip tight to any firmness of snow, making it look easy out there to carve across the fall line, when in fact, that’s not such an easy thing to do. Regardless, these things rip, and since they’re unchanged for 2022, another generation of race carvers will love the ski’s ability to get up on edge and hold a carve at any speed and on any amount of ice you can find.

Marcus Shakun got on the 185 and noted that was a “perfect” length for him. He scored the ski 5’s out of 5 for stability, quickness, maneuverability, torsional stiffness, edge hold, and overall impression. Not surprisingly, flotation got a 1. Marcus calls it an “all-mountain front side GS ski for the skier who seeks out fresh corduroy, looking to make fast medium to long-radius turns. Holds an amazing edge with quick edge-to-edge transfer and quickness. Grips onto firm, hard snow and gives great rebound into and out of every turn. You get everything out of this ski that you put into it—lively, energetic, and fun.” In terms of the rest of the mountain, Marcus states that the WRC is “not versatile in off-piste conditions, and that’s the only downside, if any.” That’s pretty impressive, that a ski like the WRC can even give off whiffs of all-mountain versatility, and that’s likely a nod to the use of carbon in the skis that makes them a bit lighter and more maneuverable than some of the competition.

On the 180, Mike Thomas noted it was a good length for him, although he’s almost as tall as Marcus, so he likely could size up if he wanted to. Mike scored the WRC 5’s out of 5 for stability and overall impression, and a 4.5 for torsional stiffness and edge hold. Like Marcus, the lower scores of 1’s and 2’s were given for flotation, playfulness, forgiveness, and versatility. These carvers are not particularly known for their smeariness in the soft snow, that’s for sure. Mike notes that the WRC has “grip for days! Smooth and fast, locked in and ripped but with a bit of forgiveness. They were easy to dump speed on, they didn’t mind making a steered and skidded carve.”

As with most race-oriented skis, versatility and well-roundedness aren’t going to jump off the page at you. The singularity of the skis, and their ability to lay down some clean and round arcs, however, is about as impressive as it gets. If you’re looking to enter the beer leagues or rip the corduroy on an early-morning, the Blizzard Firebird WRC is about as amazing as it gets.