Coastal Crud & Chop / The Reforma Test
On the afternoon of that Tahoe / AK pow day, I was debating whether or not to go ski Reforma. It was pretty heavily bumped up, and I wasn’t sure that it would be all that soft. The Spur isn’t a light ski, so negotiating a bunch of big, firm bumps at speed seemed like it could be (a) not much fun, and (b) not really fair or relevant. Who the hell is going to ski this 125mm-underfoot ski down stuff like that?
I mentioned all this to my buddy Alistair on the chairlift, and he proceeded to shame me, calling me an uncommitted reviewer and insisting that the world needed to know…. I’m certain he just wanted to see me blow up on Reforma, but whatever, he guilted me into it.
Turns out, the bumps were pretty huge, but the snow had not baked into rock-hard status, and … the Spurs performed quite well. I wasn’t skiing as fast as I would have on some narrower skis (the 190cm Blister Pros would have been rather perfect for the occasion), but the Spurs were very compliant, were actually quite easy to pivot slowly through the huge bumps at the top; handled the faster middle section of bumps quite well (lots of airplane turns and hard landings, but never getting thrown into the backseat or like the shovels were folding up); and handled the straight line run out with aplomb. The skis were not totally quiet and composed, but I wasn’t speed checking, either; the rockered shovels rode up over all of the chop and bumps, while the wide, flat, subtly rockered tails never got squirrely.
While the length and particularly the width of the Spur were never an afterthought in the big bumps, it doesn’t feel like you’re throwing around big tanks. Still, this is a pretty big and wide ski to work through bumps at speed. And I don’t know if you’ll ever really have your 120+mm pow skis in this sort of terrain and snow, but I can vouch for the Spur, in any case.
(I ended up skiing Reforma three more times in a row after that, by the way. Long live Reforma.)
Groomers
If you want to carve your fat ski, this is definitely one of the very best ~125mm-wide skis I’ve been on, along with the Kingswood SMB.
The Spur is quite willing to slide turns around at slow speeds, zero issue there. But it is also able, when brought up to speed, to make big, fast, higher angle turns. Ripping these down Taos’ Totemoff and White Feather was high-speed fun, not just some boring matter of getting back to the chair lift.
Comparisons
• 189cm Blizzard Spur vs. 187cm Kingswood SMB
If you’re looking for an even more traditionally shaped 125mm pow ski that handles variable-to-firm conditions with more dampness, do yourself a favor and check out the Kingswood SMB. The Spur isn’t as damp as the SMB, but if you expect to get your fat ski into really deep snow, the heavily tip-splayed Spur will be less prone to tip dive than the SMB (see both my review and Paul Forward’s review of that ski).
The SMB is still the best fat ski I have ever been on for use in lower-snow areas, where really big snow storms are more rare.
• 189cm Blizzard Spur vs. 192cm Atomic Bent Chetler
Couple things:
(1) It’s pretty surprising that the 192cm, 120mm-wide Bent Chetler is actually heavier than the 124mm-wide Spur; the Spur looks huge.
(2) The 192cm Bent Chetler’s recommended mount position is only 3 centimeters behind true center. The Spur’s recommended mount point is way farther back, and much more traditional. So if you want to spin and trick your big, heavy pow ski, the 192cm Bent Chetler is the clear choice over the Spur.
(3) While the Bent Chetler doesn’t have a radical amount of tail rocker, really, it feels like it has a whole lot more tail rocker on snow. It is a much looser ski than the Spur (which also has to due with it’s centered mount), and airplane turns in steep, moguled terrain (e.g., Taos’ Pollux) is pretty annoying on the Bent Chetler – if you don’t land in the center of the ski but rather on its (relatively soft) tails, you fall through a trap door into the backseat. This doesn’t happen on the Spur.
(4) In shallow chop and thicker untracked, both skis are a lot of fun. Pick ’em. Go ski fast. Smile a bunch.
(5) Groomers? Both are totally fine and will happily make short, smeared turns at slow speeds. But for big turns and high edge angles at high speeds … Spur.
• 189cm Blizzard Spur vs. 190cm Whitedot Redeemer
The Spur is much more fun to ski on groomers, period. You can actually, genuinely, happily carve the Spur once you bring it up to speed. You can’t really carve the Redeemer. (Well, Will Brown and I couldn’t.)
The Redeemer is more damp than the Spur, and the more you value this particular characteristic in a ski uber alles, the more I would recommend the Redeemer.
I also think that the more time you spend pivoting back-and-forth across the fall line as opposed to keeping more of a fall line approach—especially in thick, dense snow—the more significant tail rocker of the Redeemer will be of greater interest to you. You can certainly get the Spur sideways and working across the fall line, but as I’ve said, the Spur isn’t the driftiest fat ski out there, and it has much less tail splay than the Redeemer.
Comparisons when getting into steep, tight, sketchy entrances? I’m calling this a tie. I talked about the stable platform underfoot of the Redeemer, and I like its dampness. But I also really like the predictable, flatter tail of the Spur, even if the ski isn’t as damp as the Redeemer. So at the moment, I’d have to consider this area a pick ’em.
Fact is, aside from their groomer performance, and despite the fact that these two skis have pretty different shapes and tail rocker profiles, they have some pretty similar performance characteristics on snow, and I’ll do my best to answer any more specific questions in the Comments Section below. I’d also encourage you to read my Whitedot Redeemer review for a few more points of comparison & contrast.
Bottom Line
Blizzard has engineered a very good ski that happens to be a big pow ski. The Spur certainly feels like all of the elements of its design are working in perfect concert with one another, and that’s always exciting to see.
There are weirder shapes and flashier designs out there, but this ski inspires a lot of confidence to go ski hard and fast in very deep snow, but then it doesn’t exhibit any scary quirks when you’re skiing windscour, or nice groomers, or crazy, deep Tahoe-esque chop. Predictability when you need it, and a smooth ride in deep conditions.
I clicked with this ski from my very first run, and there was basically no learning curve nor any fiddling with the tune or mount position after that.
I’ve put the Spur through a gamut of conditions, and the ski has never exhibited any real weaknesses. It’s not the surfiest, not the most damp, not the most playful pow ski out there, but it handles excellently at best and ‘pretty well’ at worst everything you might encounter on the mountain—deep pow, smooth groomers, huge moguls, soft chop, windbuff, windscour, straight line runouts, etc.—better than any other ~125mm-wide ski we’ve tested to date.
NEXT: Heli & Resort Skiing in AK – Paul Forward’s Review of the Spur
Great review, I have been skiing my Spur’s this season way more than I expected…and this has to be one of the lower snowfall seasons I have seen in central Colorado. My first few days were big powder days(December), and I wasn’t that happy, as they were just ‘okay’. I friend of mine recommended getting them through his grinder…from ‘okay’ to fantastic, what a transformation. This is a fantastic ski, and as you say, that happens to be a powder ski.
Without thought, I have skied lines I had never even looked at before, and dropped into tight tree zones that I had always avoided. I find the Spur significantly easier to ski than my Cochise, to me it feels quicker and lighter underfoot, despite being much bigger. Reliable, dependable and fun.
I cannot recommend this ski enough. Other skis I love this season for reference, Atomic Automatic 117 in the 186cm, Soul Rider 185 as my teaching ski. Struggling to find a replacement for my Cochise and Rituals, one ski to replace both as a firm conditions everywhere ski (waiting on the Enforcer and Vantage 100 Cti reviews :) )
Always great to read your reviews, and get your impressions on skis that I know. For the Blizzard Spur, spot on, agree completely. Thank you
Thanks! Really appreciate the feedback. And that Enforcer review is now live…
How tall/fat are you?
181cm/78kg and pure muscle
Blizzard spur mounting point
Do you prefer line or +1?
I set the Spur at the “0” line, and never felt a single reason to move off of it.
But if I had to go either forward or back of the 0 line for some reason, I would definitely opt to go forward.
Ive been skiing the Spurs all winter in Jackson (and storm chasing in Utah and Colorado) and love the the Spurs. I did detune the edges, except for under my feet, and love everything about the Spurs. Ive looked down chutes, tree runs and bowls that I would have not even considered previously, and jumped over the edge with confidence knowing the ski would do what I wanted, when I wanted. The best comparison I can come up with is a fat version of the Blizzard Bonafide, my every day ski (I still havnt gotten on the Cochise YET, but hopefully soon). I did have the Spurs out last week for some spring skiing and I didnt like their punch for getting through slush, but thats what my Gunsmokes are for!
Thanks for another great review Jonathan. The more I read, the more it seems Blizzard keeps getting it right with their skis. Im excited for the mini Spur, the Bodacious.
Hi, Great review, as always.
How would you compare it to the Bodacious, I mean if you had a Bodacious and used it a lot, and by a lot I mean 28 out 30 days of this ski seasson… would you think that swaping over to the spur, would make things a bit easier on my legs… on those days where you probably shouldn’t be using skis that fat…?
Also do you know if hhere are any changes betwwen the 2015 (white) and the 2016 (black) versions.
Thanks a lot! in advance!
The 14/15 Bodacious has more in common with the Blister Pro than the Spur, so see my replies below.
The other thing is that I regard the Bodacious as more of a big mountain ski that handles firm and variable conditions quite well, rather than a specialized pow ski. I could see using the Bodacious across a broad spectrum of conditions. The Spur is an excellent pow ski that can also deal with a remarkably broad range of conditions.
And I think the Spur is wide & straight enough that if you actually like to get your skis on edge and carve, I wouldn’t regard it as an easier ski than the Bodacious.
Having said all that, the 15/16 Bodacious sounds like it may be closer to what you are looking for…. But we’ll need to ski it before we can recommend it.
Thanks Jonathan, I take your words into great consideration, I’ll keep my bodacious as my main ski for next season and enjoy them as much as I’ve done the last few years.
Hello Blisterites!
Great reviews and improving in details over time.
The spur was one of the ski I was more curious to see reviewed.
I have a pair of zealot 182 and blizzard gs 6.8 for groomers.
I mostly use the zealots on powder days in the alps. I always ski in a place with lots of steep widely espaced trees, tighter at the bottom. If it doesn’t snow all day long, you get half a day of untracked powder and then deeply tracked pow. I am a directional skier but I like to do some little tricks.
I was looking for a powder ski with better flotation and pivoting of the zealot, but still capable of being fun and chargeable in the tracks.
I was basically sold to the blister pro, but now I have doubts!
How do they compare with the blister pro? i guess they would basically totally replace the zealot, while the spur maybe won’t?
And by the way, do you plan to review any black crows skis?
Thanks and thanks for keeping improving!
jp
Hi, JP – see my reply to Austin below. The reason I didn’t mention the Blister Pro in the Spur review was because the skis really aren’t apples-to-apples. There is no question that the Blister Pro is the closer comparison to the Zealot – but will pivot better and offer better floatation.
For skiing hard in mixed conditions, the Blister Pro is one of our favorites. It does not float like the Spur, but the Spur doesn’t handle firm and mixed conditions as well as the Blister Pro. As I wrote below, the Spur feels like a much bigger, wider ski – and even more so compared to the Zealot.
Hey Jonathan
Great review once again! That being said, I have a potentially great deal on the Spur but don’t think I would actually need it because I already have the 190 Blister Pro’s, which are ~7 mm skinnier at the waist and like a ~2-3mm difference at the shovel/tail. Do you think there would be any reason to proceed with adding the Spurs to my quiver?
Thanks!
A
Hey, Austin. I actually had a 3 day sequence where I skied the 190 Blister Pros one day, then the Spurs, then back to the Blister Pros. And I couldn’t get over how much wider the Spur seemed – made the Blister Pros look and feel skinny.
So while I really do believe that the Spur might be the most versatile ~125mm ski I’ve ever been on, the firm snow capabilities of the 190 Bibby are significantly better. And there is also no question that in really deep snow – especially not very steep, heavier snow, the Spur floats significantly better than the Blister Pro.
So all that to say, the performance spectrums of the two skis are different enough that I definitely could see having both in the quiver if you are fortunate enough to get into some really deep snow. The less that’s true, the less sense I think it would make.
“As an aside, if Blizzard was ever able to create a lighter, 8-9 lb. version of the Spur (with their new Zero G technology) that didn’t lose too much of the character of the Spur … I think it would be among the best pow touring skis ever.”
Paul – PM Gear makes this in their Kusala Pow pure carbon layup. I have a pair of extra stiffs that come in right under 9lbs/pair. Their softer flex is right around 8lbs. These are substantially stiffer than Spurs, which I feel makes this sort of ski (reverse camber) only perform even better. Noticeably stiffer than Renegades. You can really lay into them. It also feels much damper than DPS’s latest Pure offerings – more akin to their hybrids. Its my go-to powder ski these days, alongside my 191 Katanas (looking at 186 Variant 113s), 183 Head m103s and 180 Down Countdown 102s.
Hey Jonathan and Paul,
So i picked up a pair of spurs last year and have to agree that they are a great resort pow ski. Now I’m just trying to get my touring setup dialed and am debating getting another pair of spurs, some 196 praxis protest or 196 4frnt renegade as a hard charging but still playful touring ski. I already have a pair of 187 hojis for the mellow days but at 6’3 190lbs things can get a bit squirrely at high speeds. Which one of these do you think would shine most as a versatile, slarvy, but still stable touring ski? Or are there other skis i should be considering? The lotus 138’s would be my first choice but they are a bit out of my price range.
Btw, nice work on the cover shot Paul! That looked awesome! Bummed i missed last year but hoping to make it back out to japan again this year.
Hi guys,
After reading ou reviews on the Spur and true DPS 138 it sounds like the 138 Spoon might be more what I’m after. I’ve only recently come across DPS skis and am now really considering getting a pair based on the reviews I’m seeing. Just to give you an idea of what I’m looking for – because I instructed in Colorado for a few years I always skied on traditional frontside all mountain skis and just took them into backcountry and powder (ie used them as a one-ski quiver) on days off. I had my first trip to AK last year (Alyeska followed by Points North) and figured I needed something wider and ended up going with the Blizzard Gunsmokes (with pivot 19’s). I found these fine at Alyeska in the variable conditions there but when I was out in the heli areas at points north I found them two narrow and to be honest not as light and responsive as I hoped. I also probably needed something more directional now that I’m 38 and not 28 anymore!
I’ve been looking around online (living in Australia doesn’t really enable me to try in advance) for a while for my next AK trip and had a shortlist of the Black Crows Nocta, Rossignol Super 7 HD and maybe even the Line Pescado but now the DPS Lotus 138 Spoon has moved to the top of the list. Ultimately I’d love something that’s great for Alaska Heli but can also translate to resort skiing when there’s been a good dump – do you think I should also look at the new Alchemist 124 Spoon you mentioned or the 124 Spoon Pure3 (2017) or even the Powderworks Lotus 124 (2016)?
Sorry, I know this is a really long post and maybe not easy to answer so really appreciate your help!
Davyn
Davyn
I’m not a reviewer, but after going through a similar progression of skis, I wanted to chime in. I love my Gunsmokes but they are often not big enough, similar to what you describe. I picked up a pair of Praxis Protests after talking with a few people about them and the Protests were just as advertised. Check out the review, it’s spot on. I read it after skiing my Protests and I kept nodding my head in agreement. Powder skiing became easy and fun, exactly what people describe it as once they figure out how to ski pow. I will be honest, it took a few runs to make the adjustments needed to bring them alive, but once I adjusted, I felt as if I was floating on cloud 9.
One of the most interesting things about the Protest, is I kept grabbing it a few days after storms, because it was so much fun. The post storm days were usually reserved for my 193 Volkl Shiros (119mm underfoot) or my 193 Gunsmokes, but at 128mm underfoot, the Protests were more fun. I never imagined that I would find a pow ski that I’d jump on so often.
Check out the review, their is a reason used Praxis Protests for sale are few and far between.
http://blistergearreview.com/gear-reviews/praxis-protest
Matt
Hi Matt,
Thanks a lot for your response – really appreciate it! Did you get the carbon fiber option? I’ve now read up on the Protests and I think it’s between them and the DPS 138 or 124. Is anyone able to compare the two for me?
I’m 6″1 and 155lbs (so pretty light), 38yrs old and an aggressive skier but in an energetic way rather than crushing big GS turns in powder these days (i.e. I tend to make more turns than other big mountain skiers) so I’ve always liked a ski that’s light and “poppy”. I want a ski that’s great for AK heli and also for resort light-heavy powder days. Both the Praxis and DPS seem to be pretty similar in weight, price and (from what I can tell) overall performance.
I’d love it if someone could give me an idea of what type of skier each are more suited to.
Thanks again!
Davyn
Davyn
I’ve had two pairs of Protests, sold the first pair then bought another pair, both were the standard layup. I have not been on either of the DPSs you mentioned, so I can’t compare the two. There is a fairly log thread on TGRs forums comparing the 138 to the Protest. It might be more to you then me.
For your reference, I’ve got 3 inches and 50 pounds on you. If it’s a soft day, I ski with a lot of pop, if not I charge GS turns.
The Protests have been great for ripping around Jackson Hole all winter, no matter if it’s in tight trees, narrow chutes or open pow fields. They just do what I want when I want.
Thanks again Matt – are you on the 196?
Yep, they are big, but not unwealdy. If you are concerned about length, call Praxis and talk to them. They are great guys!
Hi Matt,
One last question sorry – did you stick with the medium flex?
Cheers,
Davyn
Blizzard Spur 15/16
So i have skied the spurs in a day of fresh Snow and cut up powder. Iam not that pyhsically super fit asofnow so i hesitated to grab these skis (although i am an experienced and tecnically good pow Skier).
Boy was i wrong. Did the First lap on my goto pow skis k2 seths 118. then i switched and ist was like putting the pedal to the Metal. I skied better, faster and more secure than before. Just wow.
So now i am wondering what ski is a thinner spur. Maybe this years bodacious or the rustler11.
Also skied the og 193cochise which i found basically more exhausting.
Hello from the future!! I picked up a pair of this gen Spurs mounted with Pivot 18s and am planning on bringing them to Hokkaido this coming winter. Think this will be a good choice for this conditions? I also have first gen 188 Protests (flat camber underfoot, 131 waist), 185 Nordica Helldorados, or first gen 189 K2 Hellbents (almost center mounted) to choose from. Any advice would be great, thanks!