2022 Line Blend

The Line Blend is a playful, fun-loving ski that blurs the line between a park ski and an all-mountain ski. It’s 100 mm underfoot with what Line refers to as a medium flex pattern. We’d go a little further and say that the flex pattern of the Blend leans more towards the soft side of the spectrum, especially in the tips and tails. Softer flexing tips and tails coupled with a good amount of rocker allows for presses, butters, smeared turns, and all sorts of different jibs. It’s a favorite among Line athletes like Will Wesson, known for his technical rail prowess and innovative approach to skiing. This ski is designed to give skiers like Will the tool they need to accomplish incredible feats on snow (and metal).

Jeff Neagle tested the 178 cm length in the Line Blend. His highest scores were for playfulness, forgiveness, and overall impression, all earning 5 out of 5 scores. Stability and torsional stiffness/edge grip dropped to 3 out of 5, with the rest of our criteria receiving solid 4 out of 5 marks. “The Blend is an interesting ski, but so much fun. The tips and tails feel extremely soft to me. I love being able to ollie, press, and butter around with ease. On the other hand, because the tips and tails are so soft, it does limit how aggressively you can ski it. The faster you go, you essentially just have to be more balanced rather than relying on the extremities of the ski to keep you upright. That’s certainly not a bad thing, just something to consider if you’re choosing this for more of an all-mountain application rather than for the park. I do think it can be used as an all-mountain ski, just don’t expect to get something really stiff and powerful.” That’s good assessment from Jeff. If you’re looking for a powerful ski, even Line has better options for you, but it’s hard to match the creativity the Blend will put into your skiing.

Nose blocks, nollies, manuals… the Blend is designed to do things on snow that will turn heads, and it’s really good at that. The 100 mm waist width gives you a better platform to stand on too, so even when the snow is on the soft side, you can still play. In fact, we find it performs really well as a slower speed tree ski. Not quite wide enough to be a true powder ski, but it certainly can handle some softer snow conditions and the softer flex pattern makes it easy to maneuver. It’s also relatively lightweight, so it’s not going to wear you out.

Overall, the Blend is going to be best for skiers who focus most of their time in the terrain park. If you never step foot in the park, there are probably better options for you for your all-mountain skis. For those playful park skiers, however, the Blend is an absolute blast and works really well as a daily driver. It might not be the best for massive park jumps because of the softer flex pattern, but it excels at basically anything else you’ll ask it to do in the park. For those looking for a stiffer flex pattern for landing bigger jumps, Line has good options like the Chronic or Tom Wallisch Pro. Realistically, however, not many skiers will need a stiffer park ski than this, and the softer flex pattern can actually be beneficial for developing skiers and those who aren’t going massive out there.