2012 Blizzard Cochise Ski

Tester: 

Age: 42

Height 6'0"

Weight 170#

Years skiing:35

Days/season: 20

Aggressiveness: Controlled aggression

Home area: Crystal Mt, WA

Preferred terrain: steep and deep

Days on this ski: 10

Conditions tested: all

length of ski used: 185

this is a great ski.  It loves to run fast and make big turns.  It is great in powder, but it also makes cut-up powder and heavy crud feel like powder.  I think this sets this ski apart from many others.  It really does excel in poor conditions.  Groomers are fun too.  You can put it on edge and ride big turns like you are on rails.  It is super stable.  

For me, this ski is not super maneuverable.  As I said, it likes to make big turns.  It's not the quickest-turning ski in deep, soft snow.  Softer pure-powder skis are better there.  And, it's not so easy to keep in the line in tight bumps.  A narrower front-side ski is better there.  But it still does pretty well in all conditions.  Where it really excels is in less than ideal conditions, the kind we see a lot of in the northwest.  These just slice through deep, heavy, variable conditions with ease.  With these, the Cascade concrete and Sierra cement ski like Utah powder... well almost.

Much like the quest to write the great American novel, there's been an ongoing quest to create the great all mountain ski.  Physics alone dictate that it's impossible to construct a ski that will carve groomers like a GS ski while floating and slarving in powder like a fat ski, but the Blizzard Cochise appears to come about as close as any ski ever created, or at least blows away any that I've ever been on in this respect.  To put it simply: these planks live up to the flipcore hype.

In powder, the Cochise has just enough rocker at the tips (it's definitely a subtle, low rise profile for 108mm underfoot) to be effective even in Sierra cement, but it doesn't ski ridiculously short when on piste. The tails are more subtle and perhaps more impressive; on groomers you'd have no idea they have any rise, yet in powder they allow for an easy, quick release so you can just throw them sideways to scrub speed and put them back on edge just as quickly.  This is a big part of the reason that a ski that everyone says is an absolute crud buster (which it is) can also be described as extremely fun and playful.  Another attribute contributing to this contradiction is the huge sweet spot; if you can't find your balance on the Cochise then it's either your boots or your technique.

As for the groomer performance, naturally a ski that's 108mm isn't going to carve turns like a race ski, but on anything aside from boilerplate they feel comparable to a ski in the 85 - 90mm range and are still enough fun that I would certainly recommend the Cochise as a daily driver in Tahoe or the PNW for an advanced skier who likes to be aggressive and definitely in Utah, Colorado or anywhere else there's lighter snow.

Location of Test: Northstar and Heavenly
Number of Runs: 5 days, approx 100 runs.
Snow Conditions: 2 - 15 inches of powder, packed powder, hard pack
Demo or Own: Own

Size Tested: 185cm

Tester Info:
Username: JayT
Age: 32
Height/Weight: 5'11" 165lb
Ski Days/Season: 25
Years Skiing: 11 + 2 = 13
Aggressiveness: Playfully aggressive
Current Quiver: 10/11 Volkl Kendo, 11/12 Blizzard Cochise
Boots: Lange RX 130 LV
Home Area: Tahoe: Northstar / Heavenly / Alpine Meadows / Squaw
Preferred Terrain: powder, off piste, steep groomers