Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

I am a PSIA certified ski instructor, and I will have to say that these are the best skis ever. I demoed many skis-- fat to carving-- and these worked out the best.

Powder--They float in the powder, and I really feel comfortable leaning hard into my turns.

Groomed--They make nice round turns, and they grip nicely too. Short and wide turns are both easy to do, and great fun.

Bumps--They are on the stiffer side, but if you are a good skier, they really flow nicely through the bumps.

Crud-- They plow through the crud like, well... boats

They are really fun, and they are the best ski for all conditions. Flotation, and carving.

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

I love these skis! They inspire confidence, really help me carve, and skiing on-piste both on very hard hardpack & icy conditions, with surface snow cut up by boarders, these skis went exactly where I wanted them to go.

I demo'd these skis at The Canyons. It has been a dry winter without much snow - so mostly man-made snow on-piste.

I'm going to demo them again on a powder day - if they behave as I expect them to, I'm buying these skis.

They are a bit heavy -- they had rental bindings on them when I demo'd them. The weight seems to add to their stability at speed through variable terrain.

Normally I ride on K2 Apache Recons. Switching back to my Recons in the afternoon, I wished I were back on these BBRs.

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

Rode the BBR 8.9 at Revelstoke Mountain Resort this past weekend. 3.7 metres on the ground, 21 cm fresh. The BBR is perfectly suited for truly varied conditions. I skied shoulder-deep glades, powder-caked runs and cruddy groomers with this and found it up to the task in everything. was especially impressed with their float (comparable at least to the Sultan 94s I've ridden in similar conditions).

They turned just fine in the pow, with the big shovels digging in. If you're planning on using them a fair bit on piste, use the same length as you'd use with a full camber ski, and you'll turn fine.

The skis are incredibly heavy for their length and quite soft, especially through the front.

If you're doing mostly groomers or mostly powder, get a more specialized ski. But if you truly ride everything in a day, the BBR is impressive.

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

I ski Fischer Atuas in a 186 & Elan 888 in a 185. The BBRs skied very similar to the Fischers, but was more stable in icy conditions, had more float (slightly) and had quicker response. The ski carved well and allowed all turn shapes with ease. It did not hook like other early rise skis I've tried. I found it to be a great all-around ski.

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

This is a whole new breed of ski. The narrow waist and sharp radius makes it turn like a slalom ski, yet the incredibly wide surf-board rockered tip gives you a water ski for the deep stuff. The tapered tail is forgiving and easy to release from a turn. The BBR will allow anyone to have fun on groomers or powder. My only complaint is that the wide tip is hooky and too turny if you get forward on the ski while on hard pack.

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

great functioning skis on all terrain

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

So honestly I took one look at this ski and was skeptical to say the least. It looks strange, big wide tip, skinny little tail, how could this thing possible ski well? I didn’t love it, but it does ski surprisingly well. You can practically stand straight up on this ski or even lean back and turn it easily. It is different for sure but the surfy feel is there. Didn't get a chance to try it on a big powder day but strangely fun on the hardpack.

Comments about Salomon BBR 8.9 Skis 2012:

Turned fine but felt like a dead plank. Rode beautifully through the crud though. Not for high energy quick turns. Sorry to say that I least liked this ski out of all my demo days.