The 2024 Blizzard Firebird SRC is a shining example of a short-turning ski done right. With a racing pedigree that takes on a slightly more friendly shape, the SRC is one of those skis that just needs to be on edge all of the time. Whether you’re using this as an on-trail carving ski or as a beer league race ski with shorter gates than most, the SRC is here and ready to take you to the top of the podium and beyond. With a few new updates for 2024, including a new system plate that offers more performance, the SRC is quick, agile, and stable in a variety of turn shapes and styles. Thanks to Blizzard’s race department, the SRC is the beneficiary of tons of technology that filters right through into these awesome short-turning skis.

Built with their Firebird TrueBlend core, the SRC gets mainly dense ash, but mixes it slightly with a central portion of poplar wood for the slightest tinge of accessibility. The two larger and outer stringers are ash and they are split between the poplar with their Carbon Spine technology. By placing two vertical carbon stringers between the wood, this makes the ski feel a lot stiffer and energetic without adding a whole lot of weight. We also get a second carbon application in the form of Carbon Armor found underfoot. This boosts torsional stiffness and edge grip in the underfoot zone—again—without adding too much weight. We also get two sheets of metal and fiberglass laminates that make the ski strong and poppy. These do add weight, but weight equals stability, so it’s a worthy sacrifice for most skiers. At the end of the day, this is about as close to race room as you’re going to get without actually walking through those doors.

The shape is where the slalom style of the ski starts to stand out. At 68 mm underfoot, the ski is very narrow. This can be very unnerving for skiers who aren’t used to being on a slalom ski, as it’s very twitch if you’re not on a pure high edge angle. Riding flat on these skis is unadvisable—they're really only comfortable when it comes to carving clean turns. It’s not that often in a slalom race that you see a racer riding a flat ski—they're on edge the whole time. In the 165, we get a 12.5-meter turn radius—great for linking those short and round turns. You do need balance though; the ski will not do it for you. As most race/frontside skis, the SRC does not have any rocker or taper to speak of, putting more emphasis on the ski’s ability to be hooked into the snow at any given point in time.

Skiers need to know what they’re getting into with this one. It’s not a friendly ski at all. It’s aggressive and needs to be driven by a very experienced skier. In order to access the entirety of the sidecut, you need to be sure of yourself, and be willing to commit to standing all your weight, balance, and power on the razor-thin edges of these skis. Not all are up for the task, but if you’re one of the select few, you’ll be rewarded with some of the best performance on the planet when it comes to short carved turns.