Diving into Blizzard’s 23/24 Ski Lineup (Ep.239)

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On Blister's GEAR:30 podcast, We talk with Blizzard’s Christian Avery about the overhauled Rustler & Sheeva skis; where their Hustle line of skis slots into the mix; and why nobody should be sleeping on the Cochise.
Christian Avery
On Blister's GEAR:30 podcast, We talk with Blizzard’s Christian Avery about the overhauled Rustler & Sheeva skis; where their Hustle line of skis slots into the mix; and why nobody should be sleeping on the Cochise.
Christian Avery
Diving into Blizzard’s 23/24 Ski Lineup (Ep.239)
Diving into Blizzard’s 23/24 Ski Lineup (Ep.239)
Diving into Blizzard’s 23/24 Ski Lineup (Ep.239)

This week I’m talking with Blizzard-Tecnica’s North American Product Manager, Christian Avery, about the overhauled Rustler & Sheeva skis; where their Hustle line of skis slots into the mix; and why we shouldn’t be sleeping on the Cochise.

TOPICS & TIMES:

  • From Intern to Product Manager (5:18)
  • History of Blizzard (11:33)
  • Freeride Then & Now (17:22)
  • Don’t Sleep on the Cochise (23:30)
  • Overview of the Lineup (30:33)
  • Rustler 10 (39:47)
  • Rustler 9 (52:29)
  • Rustler 11 (1:00:32)
  • Rustler vs Sheeva (1:09:08)
  • Hustle & Zero G Touring Skis (1:22:06)
  • Black Pearl Series (1:25:16)
  • Crashes & Close Calls (1:29:20)
  • What We’re Celebrating (1:39)

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6 comments on “Diving into Blizzard’s 23/24 Ski Lineup (Ep.239)”

  1. Thanks for a delightful trip through the weeds of gear nerdery, Jonathan and Christian. And thanks, Christian, for keeping skis like the Cochise in your lineup. I’ve not skied it, but, as Jonathan knows all too well, I’m a huge fan of the Bodacious 196, and the Cochise is on my list of potential skis to fill-out the narrower end of my decidedly western-US oriented quiver. This is where I’d ordinarily make a plea to bring the Bodacious back, but I won’t: I’ve already accumulated five pair of these ridiculously easy-to-ski yet powerful beauties, and that should be sufficient to last me until my knees are ready for something mellower.

    Also: Jonathan’s got a giiiiiiiiiiiirlllllfrieeeeeennnnnd.

  2. Cant wait for in depth review of the 9 and 10. Demoed last years 9 and liked it but wanted a little more carving ability. May drop the Mindbender ti for this one

  3. The Rustler/Hustle discussion doesn’t make sense to me, can anyone spell out for me why you would want a heavier Hustle with touring bindings instead of just slapping touring bindings on Rustler? (I know they talked about it, I just don’t get it )

    • You might not like his answer, but Christian spelled it out as clearly as anybody is going to be able to. Pretty simple: his claim is that Hustle skis are optimized for backcountry conditions and flotation in pow. Rustler skis are optimized for resort / more variable conditions.

      • Thanks, that’s about what I got out of it. I’m just not versed enough to understand what optimized in this context might mean, and looking at the reviews here the Hustle (11 at least) is a bit softer.

        Btw, I got rustler 11 with touring bindings and had hoped the hustle was a lighter version of a ski that I’ve really enjoyed and that I could “upgrade” to, but based on the reported weight I’ve just kept my rustlers.

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