2020 BLIZZARD RUSTLER 9 SKI REVIEW
Ski season has arrived in Vermont and we’re back on snow testing skis! We’re still in the month of November, and Blizzard is the sponsor of our November SkiHappy Photo Contest. What’s the prize, you might ask? A brand new pair of Rustler 9s. What’s this review? Well, of course we thought we’d take the time to chat about these skis. You’ve likely from us talking about the Blizzard Rustler line before. The 9, 10, and 11 have all made appearances in our Ski Comparison series, and we’ve done full reviews of all 3 skis before (you can see our review of the 2018 Rustler 10 here, and the 2019 Rustler 11 here). That said, this Rustler 9 is a whole lot of fun, and definitely deserves a second look. Before we get started, if you’re reading this on the day it’s published (November 27, 2019), you have 4 more days to enter photos into the SkiHappy Photo Contest for a chance to win these skis.
The Rustler 9 is an exceptionally versatile all-mountain ski. Blizzard places it in their Freeride category, but realistically it’s more of an all-mountain ski than what we’d traditionally consider a freeride ski given its 92-94 mm waist width. Blizzard developed a construction that’s entirely unique to the Rustler (and women’s Sheeva) collection. This Carbon Flipcore D.R.T. construction is designed to give you good edge grip underfoot and a stable platform, but with more playfulness in the tips and tails of the ski resulting in better soft snow feel. There is a partial metal laminate underfoot sandwiched on top of the lightweight wood core. That metal tapers and ends as it reaches the tips and tails. In those tips and tails, we see uni-directional carbon fiber, which retains good stability longitudinally, but gives the ski less torsional stiffness than skis like the Brahma and Bonafide, which in this case is a good thing, and is an intentional design element for these skis.
Its shape is relatively straight-forward. It uses quite a bit of camber underfoot, which is essentially the same length as the metal laminate, and rockered tips and tails. There’s more tip rocker than tail rocker, but not by a significant margin. The Rustler 9 doesn’t use tremendous early taper, but there is some, or rather it straightens out through the tip and tail into a blunt end. This design is important in the ski’s performance. By not using a lot of early taper, Blizzard is extending the edge contact when you’re achieving a high edge angle.
Let’s talk performance. On firm snow, the Rustler 9 doesn’t have quite the power as its heavier, more-cambered brethren like the Brahma and Bonafide, but it’s a really fun ski. Similarly, it doesn’t have the same edge grip as those skis, but it’s also not significantly lacking in edge grip. The camber and metal underfoot lets you ski it pretty fast and aggressively on firm snow. Only skiers that are really comfortable driving turns and initiating with the forebody of the ski, specifically at high speeds, will find the speed limit of the Rustler 9. Most skiers will find they can keep pushing it on groomers and it will respond accordingly. Heavy, aggressive skiers can get the tip to bend a lot in a carving turn, which can be somewhat surprising at first. If you’re that type of skier, you’ll find that if you ski in a more balanced stance and initiate turns more laterally, the ski stays more composed at high speeds. Also, in our opinion, anything it’s giving up in edge grip, power, or stability, it’s more than making up for in versatility, playfulness, and fun-factor. On groomers, you can make all sorts of different turn shapes and styles on the Rustler 9. It carves, like we’ve talked about, but you can release the tail edge extremely quickly and easily, which allows for easy pivoting, smearing, or skidding turns.
That tail release and the rocker profile are big reasons why the Rustler 9 is so fun in off-piste, un-groomed terrain. It’s this application where it really sets itself apart from skis like the Brahma and Bonafide. Not only is it drastically easier to ski in that kind of terrain, it’s also more fun. Here at Stowe, we have a lot of right trees, and the Rustler 9 absolutely loves it. You can flick it around so easily. Because the mass of the ski is centered around your feet, and the tips and tails are much lighter, the swing weight feels impressively light. In fact, on your feet, it feels as light as some skis that are hundreds of grams lighter just because of the swing weight factor. On the other side of the coin, the metal underfoot and camber that gives it good groomer performance also gives it the stability you need in variable snow conditions. It’s fun and easy to maneuver, but there’s still enough ski under your feet to give it a confidence-inspiring feel in tricky situations.
All in all, the Rustler 9 is one of the most well-rounded skis you’ll find in 2020. It has a very even mix of performance characteristics for an all-mountain ski. We love skiing it here at Stowe. It’s the type of ski that you can take literally anywhere on the mountain and it performs really well, and you can even do that in a whole bunch of different snow conditions. Only the deepest snow conditions will be too much for the Rustler 9, but that’s why Blizzard offers skis like the Rustler 10 and Rustler 11. It’s a strong example of a well-balanced ski as evidenced by the incorporation of metal and carbon to the wood core. Stiff and stable where you need it, and light, playful, and maneuverable everywhere else.
