2022 Line Blade

Funky skis come around every now and then, and we love seeing it. Now in its second year, the Line Blade turned heads last season with its outlandishly large shovel and semi-swallow tail. With a 154 mm wide shovel, the skis look different than anything else out there, and they ski that way, too. It tapers in dramatically to 95 mm underfoot before blowing back out to 124 in the tail. This exaggerated sidecut creates an unstated turn radius (they simply list it as “tight” in the catalog). We’d put it in the 13 to 15-meter range, which is still very short, especially if you are on the 176 or 181, in which case that’s a really short arc. Most skiers won’t really see the light at the end of that radius, you really have to get it over on edge and create some high angles. With a 154 mm tip width, the ski needs something to help it have the torsional stiffness to create the edge, and that comes in the form of Line’s Gas Pedal Metal laminate, which is just as fun to say as it is to ski. With a central spine of metal, it flares off in a branch shape along the way up and down the ski, leading to the required amount of force it takes to carve the ski properly.

So where do we place this ski on the spectrum? How about nowhere. It’s a completely and totally unique ski that you need to ski to understand. A few runs of testing is fun, and we’ll get to that feedback, but I (Bob St.Pierre) was able to get out on this ski for about four or five days this past winter and really put it through its paces. From early morning groomers to sketchy bumps and trees, I thought the Blade could really do a lot of things, and at a pretty high level. I kept thinking that it was a lot like a wide slalom ski, and while it ultimately won’t hold on ice like a race ski, the softer snow was a whole lot of fun. Even in some wind-blown crap that I found, the tips took care of the flotation for sure, and while the 95 mm waist wasn’t quite enough to stay on top, the whole experience was a lot of fun. For scoring, I’d give it a 5 out of 5 for forgiveness and playfulness, and I’d also put my overall impression in that realm as well. 3’s for stability, torsional stiffness, and edge hold are about right, as they’re still on the flexible side, which is fine if you want to get the whole arc of the ski—at that width, it needs to be softer than a race ski for sure. My overall take on the ski is that it’s one of the most interesting skis on the market today, and I had an absolute blast. I can’t wait to try the 181, as the 176 just felt too short, but I do see that you need to ski it shorter than you would a normal ski.

Ryan Daniel was on the 176 and says that it’s “Not a ski for everyone. Not for the park or going backwards. But if you like to rail edge to edge turn this thing is fun. Definitely not an everyday/do it all ski. But it was very stable on edge and carved a nice quick turn. Can be broken free of edge and smeared but does not like it.” Brad Schauerman notes that “This ski was very fun. Very playful and turny. Fun in the corn snow and slop. Good at getting through a variety of snow conditions.” Noah Labow, also on the 176 states that “This is a good ski for a hard charging intermediate. The swallowtail made it really fun to bust through crud and he wider platform and small tip rocker made it pretty stable at high speeds. Fun ski.”

Some really fun feedback from our group of testers for sure. It’s a tough ski to quantify—the experience is likely going to be different than you’d expect, but for advanced and expert skiers who want a unique feel and a turny ski that can handle a wide, wide variety of conditions and terrain, the Line Blade is a very, very interesting option.