Today Blizzard announced a whole new ski collection that will be on sale for the 2024-2025 season: the Anomaly line.
This follows last week’s announcement about Blizzard’s overhauled women’s Black Pearl collection. And based on what Blizzard is saying about the Anomaly skis, it looks like they share a good bit in common with the revised Black Pearl skis.
For starters, here’s Blizzard’s general copy about the Anomaly series:
“You’re an anomaly. You separate yourself from the herd by letting your actions speak louder than your words. You ski the entire mountain from dawn to dusk and still come back hungry for more. You’re No Ordinary skier, and for you we’ve built No Ordinary Ski, designed to give you the confidence to find your own line, be your own person, and most importantly, chase the kind of gravity-defying, face-melting fun you can only find on a pair of skis. You don’t need another “all-mountain” ski – You need Anomaly.”
As for the tech, the Anomaly skis start with Blizzard’s “Trueblend” wood core, which, in this instance, consists of a combination of poplar and beech stringers. For reference, the goal with Trueblend is to put denser, stiffer materials (i.e., the beech) where you need them, while placing lighter, softer materials (poplar) where stiffness is less of a priority and you’re instead looking to minimize swing weight. While many skis’ wood cores contain a variety of stringers of different types of wood, Blizzard’s Trueblend construction seems to be notably more complex and allows for finer-tuning of core characteristics. Blizzard also notes that it reportedly requires them to design a unique core for every different length of every different model.
Next up, the Anomaly skis feature a new version of Blizzard’s “Fluxform” construction, which first debuted on their Sheeva and Rustler skis. Its application in the Anomaly skis mirrors that in the 24/25 Black Pearl skis, with some exceptions. Both series of skis feature a top layer of titanal that’s split into three parts: a strip over each edge and a wider strip over the middle. Blizzard says that this “reduces torsional rigidity so you can come in and out of turns with ease, all while maintaining a super stable, damp feeling from tip to tail.”
In the Black Pearl skis, those three pieces of metal are reportedly 0.4mm-thick titanal; the Anomaly skis’ top three pieces of metal are reportedly 0.6 mm thick. The Anomaly skis also get an additional, full-width layer of 0.4mm-thick titanal metal under the wood core.
Blizzard also states that the Anomaly skis feature “an increased and more progressive rocker profile in the tip and tail, for ease of turn initiation and improved versatility in all conditions.” They don’t explicitly state what skis they’re comparing to when they say “more progressive rocker profile,” but my money would be on the Blizzard Brahma, Bonafide, and Cochise skis (Blizzard’s 23/24 “all-mountain” models). Blizzard also notes that, while the Anomaly skis feature shorter contact lengths due to their deeper rocker lines, they also feature increased camber height in the middle, with the goal of generating more energy out of turns.
[Editor’s Note: We have confirmed that the Blizzard Brahma 82, Brahma 88, Bonafide 97, and Cochise 106 will be retired after the 23/24 season. The Anomaly collection is Blizzard’s new all-mountain line for 24/25.]
We’ll be testing several of the Anomaly skis later this season and will post Flash Reviews ASAP. In the meantime, here are the basic stated specs we have for the skis right now, and the full press release from Blizzard, below.
2024-2025 Blizzard Anomaly 102
Stated Dimensions: 136-102-123 mm
Available Lengths: 176, 182, 188, 192 cm
Stated Weight per Ski (188 cm): 2240 grams
2024-2025 Blizzard Anomaly 94
Stated Dimensions: 132.5-94-114.5 mm
Available Lengths: 164, 170, 176, 182, 188 cm
Stated Weight per Ski (182 cm): 2150 grams
2024-2025 Blizzard Anomaly 88
Stated Dimensions: 127.5-88-109.5 mm
Available Lengths: not available as of publishing
Stated Weight per Ski: not available as of publishing
2024-2025 Blizzard Anomaly 84
Stated Dimensions: 124.5-84-107.5 mm
Available Lengths: not available as of publishing
Stated Weight per Ski: not available as of publishing
Full press release from Blizzard:
Blizzard Unleashes New Collection of No Ordinary Skis – ANOMALY.
An all-mountain ski by definition, but an Anomaly by experience.
WEST LEBANON, NH (JAN 8, 2024) – Blizzard is proud to introduce a brand-new collection of all-mountain skis crafted for skiers who defy the ordinary, ANOMALY. Recognizing the ambiguity of the “all-mountain” category and the evolving needs of skiers who want a ski that marries downhill performance with multi-terrain versatility, ANOMALY provides the foundation for skiers to approach the mountain with their own unique brand of style, speed, control, and face-melting fun.
“We developed the ANOMALY collection with the notion that the industry didn’t need ‘just another all-mountain ski’,” said Christian Avery, Blizzard Tecnica North American Product Manager. “We wanted to develop a collection of skis which nod to both how we see ourselves as a brand as well as how the skiers we identify with perceive themselves; they are individuals, they do stand out, and most importantly as it pertained to developing these skis, they look at the mountain differently.”
The engineering goal of ANOMALY was to create a collection that honors Blizzard’s heritage of horsepower but wouldn’t bully skiers off the mountain. Afterall, a racecar is only as good as its breaks, and confidence is key.
THE TECH
Drawing on the success of Fluxform Technology in the Rustler freeride collection, Blizzard has tailored an all-new Fluxform to meet the specific needs of all-mountain skiing. Two full sheets of Titanal are broken into three layers, allowing for the top layers to sheer slightly within the ski. This reduces tortional rigidity so you can come in and out of turns with ease, all while maintaining a super stable, damp feeling from tip to tail. The result is a ski that allows you to step on it, but feel confident you’ll be able to shut it down when you need to.
Available in 102, 94, 88, and 84 waist widths, ANOMALY brings to the table an increased and more progressive rocker profile in the tip and tail, for ease of turn initiation and improved versatility in all conditions. With a slightly shorter on-snow contact length but increased camber height, Anomaly provides improved power and stability at speed and generates more energy out of turns without sacrificing on versatility or intuitiveness.
A new metal layup and rocker profile brought the need to refine the Trueblend woodcore at the heart of the ski. Stringers of dense Beech wood are concentrated underfoot to provide plenty of power and stability where you need it, yet taper towards the tip and tail among softer Poplar wood. The result is a woodcore that is specifically designed to be strongest underfoot and get progressively softer towards the ends of the ski to perfectly match the rocker profile and Fluxform metal layup for a smooth, balanced flex.
The concept of “Specifically Designed” is Blizzard’s North Star, and the Trueblend wood cores are the epitome. Because the layout of the stringers is specific to each size, the cores cannot simply be cut to length, but rather are designed specifically for every size of every model. Every ski has its own specific core, fine-tuned to optimize the performance of that one ski for that one skier.
ANOMALY will be available in Fall 2024.
I am sorry but the ‘you’re an anomaly’ line just makes me think of The Life of Brian ‘you don’t need to follow anyone, you’re all individuals’
These are skis for the Judean Peoples liberation front!
Perhaps you meant the Popular Front of Judea?
On a more serious note, am sure there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the demise of the Brahma, Bonafide and Cochise. I tried the Brahma 88 in Austria in November and have to say it was the first time I really clicked with it. Guess I will stick with my Monster 88’s
The ad copy makes me nauseous. But the construction of the ski looks really promising.
My thoughts exactly. Not quite Black Crows level of nauseating, but they’ve given it a very good try.
Tragic
What the actual f***? Is someone trying to sabotage Blizzard?
I talked to a Blizzard rep, and he said the new skis would be more accessible compared to the Brahma and Bonifide (my guess is very similar to the Mantra). He also said the Cochise would return unchanged for 24/25.
Shape and sizing must crossover the Rustler series slightly. Bit of a shame but guess market wants ease and more turn shape variation vs solid technique now. More dumbing down?
Buzz’s girlfriend, Woof! Those graphics make me want to puke. Seems like every other year Blizzard has cool graphics followed by crap. I heard that the Cochise was gonna be discontinued. Apparently they only sell about 500 pair or less a year, mostly to shop employees, ski patrollers etc. I love my 23′ Cochise. I have heard the anomaly ski well too though.
Another classic charger bites the dust. I was never personally all that into the Cochise, but I know a lot of folks who are and the Anomaly 102 isn’t gonna make them happy. The topsheet says it has a 21m sidecut, and the tip/waist/tail dimensions are consistent with that. It’s also a few hundred grams lighter than the Cochise.
Time to pour (another) one out.
On the potential plus side, Blizzard’s description of their new rocker profile sounds a bit Volkl-esque, which IMO is not necessarily a bad thing. I think that “deep but low” profile performs well in a lot of circumstances.
The rocker is Volkl-esque for sure. The tips rise a bit earlier and there’s more camber underfoot, but overall they looks quite similar. I love how that rocker profile lets you manipulate the ski by changing your edge angle, looking forward to trying these
My take and FWIW is that the published weights for the Anomaly skis are very much in line with the current skis. The 23 and 24 (same skis dif top sheet) models were all lightened with slimmer cores but the Blizzard published weights (what they show on their site and what they provided media) are still for the 21 and 22 (same skis dif top sheet) models. The prior models were all ~5% heavier than current.
“Accessible” is the name of the game throughout the industry. This is just one more example of taking a stiff charging bullet proof ski and “dumbing down” as someone said above for more people to buy it. It’s all in the numbers. I’m sure they’ll ski great, but a notch below their ancestors.
I see too many skiers on Brahmas that are doing themselves no favors (to be honest, I rarely see a skier on Brahmas who actually rips). So as much as these may be a notch below (I can’t say as I’ve yet to even fondle and flex a pair, let alone ski them), they may be more appropriate tools for many more than the current offerings. Brahmas and Bonafides are not exactly flying off the sales racks.
Exactly.
I see a lot of skiers who could really stand to try a new ski–almost universally one that’s a little more “Accessible” as Jay puts it.
I’d say it really applies to the Bonafides too (but at least there I do see some skiers who rip)…see a lot of older skiers in that group who were convinced to get a more modern and wider ski, but were drawn to the feel of the stiff skis that granted stability and reminded them of their retro gear. I’m not saying these guys should have switched to the yellow Soul 7s noodles, but I think they might be having more fun on the mountain if they went with something a little less demanding. It takes some getting used to a more playful ski if you have decades of experience, but once it clicks, it will probably be more fun (especially given their bodies aren’t getting any younger!)
I just skied both the Anomaly 94 188 and the 102 192 in Taos Ski Valley and thought they were flat out the best of test! I love all these skiers who talk s**t without first trying it.
It seems Blizzard and Nordica are following Volkl. I had Gen 1 and Gen 3 Bonafides and switched last year to the M6 Mantra. I went from a 180 in the bones to a 184. The speed limit was just a touch off with the Mantra but i) was easier to do slalom turns at low speeds ii) although not as damp as the Bones it had more pop and energy iii) was fun to easily change turn shapes and iv) was better in Pow. So likely will the Anomally will be like a Mantra M6 but that’s not a bad thing even for an old school ex racer type like me. I think Mt Rose will have demos this weekend so will try to ski all the 95 width back to back. I never buy into all the hype I just do the multi rep demo days are the best:)
I’m a new skier and demod the 88s today. I really enjoyed them.