Blizzard Cochise Skis 2013

Comments about Blizzard Cochise Skis 2013:

Believe the "flipcore" hype. The Cochise RIPS. Floats any depth of pow, rails the groom, smears bony crud, dances through trees, and carves and slarves everything else in its path. Though it thrives as a big-mtn-facial-inducing-powder-ski, it handles bumps and trees with suprising agility given the significant "flipcore" rocker. What is truly amazing, however, is its hardpack performance: no tip-flap at high speeds like nearly all other heavily-rockered skis. Lack of camber underfoot was not a problem; these boards charge with tremendous confidence and forgiveness!

Note that the Cochise is ~3-4cm SHORTER than its stated length: i.e. the "193" is really a 189/190, the "185" is really a 181/182, etc. How do I know this? Last season I rode the also-108mm-waisted K2 SideStash (which is a GREAT, semi-light ski for hiking the BC/SC, but suffers from significant tip-flap at speed on the groom) in 181 length. Given that I'm 6'5" and 225 lbs and hi-advanced/low-expert level, I decided by the end of last season that I really should've chosen the 188.

However, for this season I wanted the same deep pow performance of the SideStash WITHOUT the groomer "tip-flap," so after exhaustive online research, I chose the Cochise with its natural "flipcore" rocker that's built-in to the ski from the very beginning of the construction process.

In the shop, I placed the SideStash and Cochise side-by-side and noticed that the 181 SideStash is almost the EXACT same length as the "185" Cochise. And the 188 SideStash is only ~1-2cm shorter than the "193" Cochise. I'm not sure if K2s run long or Blizzards run short, but I do know that I'm 195cm tall and the "193" Cochise is 5-6cm shorter than me.

Note also, the 193 (136-108-124) Cochise is 1mm fatter in the tip & tail than the 185 (135-108-123). The 193 has a 30m radius, compared to 28.5m in the 185. Not a huge difference.

Given its burly double-titanal construction, the Cochise is the ultimate one ski quiver out west for those who prefer the lift (or heli?) to "earning their turns," yet also prefer the pow to the groom by a ratio of ~60/40. The Cochise is by no means an overly heavy ski, but it is high-performance-oriented for literally all imaginable snow conditions, so if you're a backcountry snob who doesn't care about groomer tip-flap, then you may want to go lighter.

The graphics for the 2013 Cochise also got a HUGE UPGRADE over the 2012 Cochise (everything else about the ski was left unchanged).

All around AMAZING ski. Extremely versatile. Easy to see why it won "ski of the year" last year. Very highly recommended for any advanced, expert, or pro skier looking to get even better. Believe the flipcore hype!

Comments about Blizzard Cochise Skis 2013:

I ski this ski at Squaw Valley, and in the backcountry. It is so fast, smooth and powerful it can really rip up any terrain. It trenches on groomed stuff and is really stable all over the mountain. The way the rocker is put into the ski makes it never nervous or floppy, but allows me to immediately dump speed if i need to and plane over all the pow,crud,chunk that gets in my way. These things rule.

Comments about Blizzard Cochise Skis 2013:

I'm somewhere between advanced and expert. My last pair of new skis were Rossi Bandit B2's so any of the fatter rockered skis were a big step up. I demoed a few and loved these. They LOVE fresh snow whether it's untracked or chopped up. I'm consistently amazed at how they handle the soft bumps that you get on the afternoon of a powder day. I used to see people skiing that type of terrain and effortless flying through/over/under the bumps and I couldn't figure it out. From the first time I strapped these skis on, it not only made sense but I was doing it along with them. The other great thing is that I'm a big guy (6'4" 220) and these skis come in 193's. I finally have a ski that's long and fat enough to give me good float on those deep powder days.

I'd heard negatives about any type of rockered ski on a groomer but these really hold up. If I knew I'd be 100% on groomers on a great carving day, I'd take some other skis, but otherwise, these do a really good job. There's no chatter and I've had them running VERY fast and you can whip out a solid carve if you work a little bit at it. You shouldn't get these if you're going to spend 80-90% of your time on a groomer, but when you're there, you won't mind these skis.

The only time I'm not thrilled with these skis is on days when the mountain is worn down to icy/hard moguls. The skis are long and big and I'm not great in those conditions anyway.

As you can tell, I love these skis. They're an easy recommendation.

Comments about Blizzard Cochise Skis 2013:

Great for Big Mountain shredding and competition. They handle well on all conditions and can take a beating. These are not for the faint of heart.

Comments about Blizzard Cochise Skis 2013:

Great all moutain ski ready for almost any terrain.

Comments about Blizzard Cochise Skis 2013:

This is the first Blizzad ski I have ever been on. The Coschise skied incredibly smooth. It held and edge in all conditions. This was good combination of a wider ski and a solid construction for a ski that could float in any snow but still haul on ice and groomers. Flip camber has a very natural shape to it that matches the side it well. I can imagine that the Bodacious would ski similarly for an even wider ski.