Moguls, Trees, and Tight Terrain
What the Cochise gives up at speed in wide-open, firm snow, it gets back doubly-so in maneuverability. For a ski that is still quite stable, I found that I could quite quickly break the tails free. The Cochise responds immediately when skiing with the quicker and more deliberate moves that are required in tight terrain. The grabbing and biting that was somewhat unnerving in more open terrain and at higher speeds, actually became a benefit — when compared to the old metal Katana, the Cochise exhibited much quicker response and higher levels of precision when attempting quick turns.
In tighter terrain, the Cochise is also surprisingly forgiving. The tail flowed easily when moving through moguls and other terrain variations. And, if I did ever get hung up, it was quite easy to recover. Both the tips and the tails offered up good support without feeling punishing. Not many skis I’ve been on have felt this well balanced. For example, on the spectrum of more-forgiving / easier-going skis, the Liberty Origin 106 is a lot less supportive in the tips than the Cochise. And, on the charger end of the spectrum, the Monster 108’s tails are a lot more punishing than the Cochise’s.
In tighter terrain, the excellent balance and forgiveness of the Cochise reminded me of the 182 cm Ranger 108 Ti, which is impressive, given that the Ranger 108 Ti has a significantly lower speed limit in more open terrain.
Groomers
On groomers, the Cochise will go where you tell it to go, nothing more and nothing less. If you fall back on your heels at the end of a turn, it won’t take off on you. But it also doesn’t have the snap and energy out of a turn that other skis have (like the Fischer Ranger 108 Ti or the Line Supernatural 108). So if you’re looking for a fun and exciting carving experience on smooth groomers, there are better ~108mm-wide skis out there. But making long, fast turns through bumped-up groomers can be fun and exciting in its own right, and that’s where the Cochise performs much better than all of the lighter skis I’ve been on this season.
Powder
While I haven’t yet had the Cochise out in any big storms, I have been able to ski the Cochise in about a foot of untracked, wind-affected snow. I didn’t find the Cochise to float as well as the Fischer Ranger 108 Ti, but it’s still pretty capable in the powder we’ve had. In more open terrain and when skiing fast, it definitely floats well if you commit and drive through your turns, but the Cochise isn’t an extremely floaty ski at slower speeds, or in flatter or tighter terrain.
And while I did find that I could break its tails free in powder a bit easier than the Ranger 108 Ti, the Cochise is not an extremely slashy or playful ski, either. If you want more float, the 185 cm Cochise is pretty short (measuring at 183.5 cm), so stepping up to the 192 cm model could be an option. But we suspect that untracked powder still won’t be this ski’s forte, and there will certainly be many other ~192 cm long, ~108 mm wide skis that will provide much better float in powder, if that’s your priority.
Soft Chop
If I had to identify a single area where the Cochise is most at home it’s soft chop. I’ve been spending a lot of time on lighter skis lately (e.g., Salomon QST 99, Fischer Ranger 98 and 108), and it feels great to get back onto a heavier ski and just smash through soft chop again. I’ve missed this. A lot. Whether going straight or sitting in a high-angle, sustained carve, there’s no doubt that the Cochise does a great job steamrolling through shallow trenches and ruts, especially when soft. The ski is very stable in these conditions, and its tip rocker allows it to plow through chop slightly smoother than the Monster 108. And later in the day when the snow becomes more firmly packed, the Cochise’s traditional camber underfoot adds a bit of suspension over the old metal Katana.
Bottom Line
The Cochise does a lot of things very well. It isn’t the best powder ski at this width, nor the most stable and powerful ski, nor the most maneuverable ski in tight terrain. But the combination of its shape, flex pattern, and construction puts the Cochise in the upper echelon of each of these categories.
So would I still call the Cochise a “forgiving charger,” as we called the previous iteration of the Cochise? Yes, since I found the ski to be one of the more forgiving and maneuverable skis on the charger spectrum. The skis I’ve been on that are damper and smoother than the Cochise feel more demanding and more specialized, whereas the Cochise as a very good jack-of-all-trades for advanced to expert skiers.
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I’d be delighted if the re-released the original.
I have the old & new iterations, and the new Ski is weak sauce compared to the original design!
Agreed Aaron. Cannot speak for the rest of the world but at least for Alta the original was the crud ski of choice with a great number of the locals owning several pairs over those first three seasons of the original Cochise. The new version has been tried by all and is currently worn by none. No kidding. 0. Only those demo’ing are seen are the hill. I am also hoping they bring back the original such as they are doing for the OG Bodacious.
Bring back the OG Cochise!!
Alta
I was a Blizzard fanboy for years, I use the Bonafides primarily with other widths in the quiver, I wore out my Bodacious they were fun. Brahma is a fine mid-skinny.
Deciding to fill the 1 oh something niche I forgot about the Cochise, the flex, shape, splay and flipcore add up to the best all around ski in every width they make.
Thanks for reminding me of the Cochise.
Amen!
BRING BACK THE O.G. COCHISE!
I have skied to death the 2013 version, 2015 (with camber) and now few days on 2019 (camber and carbon). The 2013 version changed skiing for me, I still miss the 2013 in some sense but Cochise just gets better and better and the latest version is awesome! Mounted with shift bindings (love the bindings and bit lighter vs Duke). The ski tackles everything so well. Its not fun when slow, but at speed, steep and when on the edge it rocks! In deep pow they survive very well but use your pow ski! I can’t wait for the next upgrade from Blizzard but until then this one will keep me very happy.
Important for me to have good forward lean on the boot (+15) to enjoy to the fullest. The carbon has improved the swing weight for the jump turns – wasn’t bad, now only better.
If you are not in a very pow heavy place as well as like aggressive, speed and steep, and have the legs for it, then go get it!