Kara Williard
For the 23/24 season, Nordica is adding some new versions of their Unleashed skis, including shorter options for the Unleashed 108. So how does it compare to the narrower Unleashed 98 W and the more directional Santa Ana skis? Read our full review and Deep Dive Comparisons to find out more.
Deep Dive: Nordica Unleashed 108 W
We compare the Nordica Unleashed 108 W to the Nordica Unleashed 98 W, Blizzard Sheeva 10, Blizzard Sheeva 11, Nordica Santa Ana 104 Free, Coalition Snow Rafiki, Salomon QST Stella 106, Armada ARW 106 UL, Faction Dancer 3X, Fischer Ranger 102, K2 Mindbender 106C, & Majesty Vadera Ti.
2023-2024 Blizzard Sheeva 9
The newly redesigned 23/24 Blizzard Sheeva 9 took the biggest departure from its predecessor, relative to its wider siblings, but how does it slot into the ~95mm-wide all-mountain category? Read our Full Review & Deep Dive comparisons to find out more.
Deep Dive: Blizzard Sheeva 9
We compare the 23/24 Blizzard Sheeva 9 to the Fischer Ranger 90, Blizzard Sheeva 10, Nordica Santa Ana 93, Atomic Maven 93 C, Faction Dancer 2X, Volkl Secret 96, Salomon Stance 94 W, Blizzard Black Pearl 97, K2 Mindbender 99Ti W, & 4FRNT MSP CC.
Shop Talk: Gear West on Year-Round Relevance, Community, & Specialty Service (Ep.238)
We talk with Jeff and Isabel from Gear West in Long Lake, MN to hear about how they’ve built a year-round community at their “campus”; the challenges and upsides of providing multi-sport services throughout the year; the effects of recent uphill access at Buck Hill; a couple of gear trends, and more.
2022-2023 Coalition Snow Rafiki
The Rafiki is Coalition Snow’s widest ski, and we have been skiing it quite a bit during recent storm cycles. Check out our Full Review and Deep Dive Comparisons to see exactly where it excels, and how it compares to some other women-specific powder skis.
Deep Dive: Coalition Snow Rafiki
We compare the Rafiki to the Blizzard Sheeva 11, Armada ARV 116 JJ UL, Salomon QST Stella 106, Nordica Unleashed 108 W, Majesty Vadera Ti, K2 Mindbender 115C W, Salomon QST Blank, Armada ARW 106 UL, & Faction Dancer 3X.
2023-2024 Armada ARV 116 JJ UL
The Armada ARV 116 JJ UL is a lightweight, freestyle-friendly pow ski that we've been skiing in everything from Japanese pow to resort chop. Check out the Full Review and Deep Dive Comparisons to see what makes it stand out.
Deep Dive: Armada ARV 116 JJ UL
We compare the ARV 116 JJ UL to the Armada ARW 106 UL, Armada ARG II UL, Atomic Bent Chetler 120, Line Outline, Line Vision 118, Moment Wildcat, Majesty Vadera Ti, Salomon QST 106, K2 Mindbender 115C, K2 Reckoner 112, Blizzard Sheeva 11, & Head Kore 117.
Flash Review: 23/24 Fischer RC4 105 MV BOA & Buckle
We've been A/B testing Fischer's 23/24 RC4 105 MV BOA against the buckled version. Check out our initial impressions.
2023-2024 Fischer RC4 105 MV W BOA & Buckle
For 23/24, Fischer redesigned their entire RC4 lineup, which includes three new lasts, and arguably the biggest overhaul was to their MV series. Check out our First Look for all the details about the new RC4 collection, the women-specific RC4 105 MV BOA, and how it compares to the traditional buckled version.
2023-2024 Blizzard Sheeva 10
Blizzard opted to update one of their most popular and most versatile skis, the Sheeva 10, and we’ve been A/B testing the new and old versions to see how they compare. Check out our Full Review & Deep Dive comparisons to see what we’ve found.
Deep Dive: Blizzard Sheeva 10
We compare the recently redesigned 23/24 Blizzard Sheeva 10 to the previous Sheeva 10, new Blizzard Sheeva 9, Blizzard Sheeva 11, Nordica Unleashed 98 W, Salomon QST Stella 106, Armada ARW 106 UL, Blizzard Black Pearl 97, Faction Dancer 3X, Fischer Ranger 102, K2 Mindbender 106C, Line Blade Optic 104, Nordica Santa Ana 104 Free, ZAG Slap 104, Head Kore 103 W, & Volkl Secret 102.
Flash Review: 22/23 Coalition Snow Rafiki
We've been spending time on Coalition Snow's widest ski, the Rafiki. Check out our initial impressions.
Flash Review: 23/24 Nordica Unleashed 108 W
We just spent time at the recent Blister Summit on one of the 23/24 additions to the Nordica Unleashed series, the Unleashed 108 W. Check out our initial on-snow impressions.
Shop Talk: 3D Printing & Bootfitting w/ Pulse Boot Lab (Ep.234)
We are back with Kai Palkeinen, founder of Pulse Boot Lab, to hear what Kai and the team at Pulse have been up to, including 3D printing, fitting race boots, and his thoughts on some other recent boot technology, including the rise of BOA dials.
Flash Review: New Outerwear Update: Women’s Flylow & Trew
We’ve been testing some updated and interesting kits from Trew and Flylow this season — check out Kara Williard’s initial impressions.
Stuff We Like: January 2023
To kick off Stuff We Like for 2023, we have an assortment of items, including ski accessories such as gloves, vests, and helmets; bike shoes and winter boots, kids' shoes, backpacks, cooking pans, and more.
Flash Review: 22/23 Armada ARV 116 JJ UL
Reviewer Kara Williard is currently in Japan, and the lightweight and playful ARV 116 JJ UL is the ski she decided to bring with her. Check out her Flash Review to see her thoughts on it so far.
2022-2023 Folsom Cash 106
We've had two reviewers spending time on multiple versions of Folsom's Cash 106 shape — check out their thoughts in our Full Review and Deep Dive comparisons.