Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Interested to learn of anyones experience telemarking on the Blaze 94. Seems like it would work well for a dropped knee turn and be a good all mountain ski for softer conditions. I’m using NTN. Thanks for sharing!

I've never skied the Blaze 94, but I'm on the Blizzard Rustler 9, Meidjo, TxPro and really like it. It appears the Blaze 94 has a similar rocker profile, but with a different sidecut design. I don't see why they wouldn't work well, just based on specs.

Montana St Alum wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:21 pm

I've never skied the Blaze 94, but I'm on the Blizzard Rustler 9, Meidjo, TxPro and really like it. It appears the Blaze 94 has a similar rocker profile, but with a different sidecut design. I don't see why they wouldn't work well, just based on specs.

Cool. What type of terrain/area are you skiing? I picked up the Crispi Evo and Meidjo 3 last season and absolutely love them. Just ordered Ripstick 96, and my local shop recommended the Blaze.

I've got the 106 Blaze sitting on my workbench, ready for some NTN bindings. I'm pretty curious too if they're going to be a good western side-country tele ski.

Algreen wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:34 pm

Montana St Alum wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:21 pm

I've never skied the Blaze 94, but I'm on the Blizzard Rustler 9, Meidjo, TxPro and really like it. It appears the Blaze 94 has a similar rocker profile, but with a different sidecut design. I don't see why they wouldn't work well, just based on specs.

Cool. What type of terrain/area are you skiing? I picked up the Crispi Evo and Meidjo 3 last season and absolutely love them. Just ordered Ripstick 96, and my local shop recommended the Blaze.

I'm in Park City, Utah. Ski Deer Valley, PCMR and some in Big Cottonwood (On the Ikon pass). Some trips up to Grand Targhee/Jackson and Big Sky.
The one thing I'd say is that if you're getting the Ripstick 96, I think the Blaze 94 would be too much overlap, unless the Ripstick is for Alpine gear.
I have a bit of a quiver:
The short 160cm Rossi EXP 84AI's are my early season, watch out for rocks" carving ski. They have a crazy tight 11.5m turn radius. Enough to hurt your back if you're not careful, but way fun. Also good if it's an icy (unusual but not unheard of in Utah) tight bump day. They have enough tail rocker to ski switch as long as there's not much soft snow.

The Rustler 9 is the one you'd be most interested in - for comparison, I think. I have it in a 164, so it has a 14m turn radius, but I think it's more fun for carving, if the snow isn't boiler plate. At 94 underfoot, it's wide enough that, when you lay them on their sides, the boot doesn't come into contact with the snow, so they're nice and predictable. They're also stiffer than the Rossi's, so you can drive them harder. They are also great in bumps, generally speaking and do fine in 6-8" of snow. They're 124/92/114 at this length, so they fit into pretty tight bumps. I really like them! For a single ski, I'd have no problem owning them in a 172 (I'm 160-ish pounds). Great switch.

The Rustler 10's are my "hit the road" to Jackson or big Sky. Floaty enough for those places with a foot or so of powder and can handle bumps under powder if that's what's hitting. Very nice ski. More Jack of all trades, than master of anything.

The M-Free 108's are in a 182cm as my big snow ski. They are replacing some old Armada JJ's in a 185 and 116mm underfoot. They were a bit of an experiment that worked out well. Not as floaty as the JJ, of course, but they blast through anything and have good float. They're fine in a couple of feet. If I were on a big day Cat skiing, I'd need more ski - like maybe back to 115+ underfoot, but the M-Free's are surprisingly quick on groomers. Like, shockingly so! Also, when the runs begin to get skied out, the JJ's would get deflected in the variable density. On these things, that's no problem. They just plow through that stuff like it's not there. Also, very switch friendly as, like the rest they're rockered front and back. STIFF underfoot, but not in a bad way, it just has plenty of backbone.

Pealer wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 05, 2021 3:38 pm

I've got the 106 Blaze sitting on my workbench, ready for some NTN bindings. I'm pretty curious too if they're going to be a good western side-country tele ski.

I just posted a response to Algreen.

I'm possibly the king of "well, I don't have THAT ski, but I have something similar".

I expect the Blaze 106 would be great! I'm on the M-Free 108 and love it, Slightly narrower tip than the Blaze and slightly more forward on the mounting point, so I could see the Blaze 106 being slightly more powder oriented even than the Dynastar. I think you'll love it.

From above:
"The M-Free 108's are in a 182cm as my big snow ski. They are replacing some old Armada JJ's in a 185 and 116mm underfoot. They were a bit of an experiment that worked out well. Not as floaty as the JJ, of course, but they blast through anything and have good float. They're fine in a couple of feet. If I were on a big day Cat skiing, I'd need more ski - like maybe back to 115+ underfoot, but the M-Free's are surprisingly quick on groomers. Like, shockingly so! Also, when the runs begin to get skied out, the JJ's would get deflected in the variable density. On these things, that's no problem. They just plow through that stuff like it's not there. Also, very switch friendly as, like the rest they're rockered front and back. STIFF underfoot, but not in a bad way, it just has plenty of backbone."

Interesting review from Blister: https://blisterreview.com/gear-reviews/ ... -blaze-106

Have you had them mounted yet?

Great write up Montana St. Alum ! You have an awesome quiver.
I’m excited for the Ripstick 96 as being the core of my quiver. I ski in Colorado a couple times per year, plus Midwest skiing so wanted something versatile. I could imagine picking up something 110ish under foot for big days in the west.
I used to ski 110 days per year and am excited to make more turns. Skis have changed so much in that time so I’m still learning which skis translate well to tele!

Thanks for chiming in Montana St Alum. I was also guessing they'd be good, but I'll find out if we ever get snow here in western Colorado.

Hey, both of you in Colorado. There's talk of storms this week, but they've lied before.

Montana St Alum wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 05, 2021 9:14 pm

Hey, both of you in Colorado. There's talk of storms this week, but they've lied before.

Saw that. Should add over a foot by the end of the week!

Curious of your height and weight and how you like those 164cm Rustlers?