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2018 Black Pearl(s) no more Samba; 2 Sheevas?

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yes that time of the year when the previews of next years skis start to show up. Seems the whispering on other threads about the 78/88/98 Black Pearl for next year and no more Samba are true... there will apparently also be 2 Sheeva's - 102 and 112.

Curious if the Diva's that are testing or have been able to preview the line can shed some light on the changes........

1. If the Samba and presumably the Cheyenne are no longer in the line up, have they been re-branded as the new BP - or are the 2018 models entirely different skis?
2. What are the available lengths?

Great article here - https://www.powder.com/gear/blizzard-shoots-for-the-core/#iYo8WIjwMOjWch6j.97
Blizzard Goes for the Core with New Skis Gunsmoke and Peacemaker get dropped, making way for the all-new Rustler January 24, 2017 By Matt Hansen


On the women’s side, the Sheeva returns but with the new upgrades consistent with the Rustler, with similar dimensions, including a 102mm and 112mm waist. The women’s skis also have extra carbon, for better rebound plus the same glass/carbon layer as the Rustler. Another big difference is lighter materials in the wood core. The Samba gets dropped from the line and picked up by an expanded group of the Black Pearl, which, according to Duke, is the best selling ski—men’s or women’s—in the entire U.S. This ski is available in waist widths of 78mm, 88mm, and 98mm.

Between snacks of pocket bacon on the chairlift, I asked Sierra Davis, POWDER’s associate editor, to chime in on the women’s skis:

“Often I shy away from women’s skis because of my size; I’m six feet tall. I need some real ski underfoot to support that, but that doesn’t mean I want to miss out on features of women’s skis that are designed for my body type and center of gravity. The Sheeva 10, is a solid option. It’s light and nimble, and carves like a dream, but not at all a sissy ski. My problem was the length—it maxes out at 172cm, so it wasn’t quite enough ski for me in steep, variable terrain. For comparison, I jumped on the Rustler 11 and I loved it. It was steady on fast groomers, cut the crud in the bumps, and allowed me to check my speed without too much chatter. The Sheeva 11, on the other hand, comes in the ideal 180cm and is constructed with more carbon, so it’s lighter with more rebound, and is built with a similar wood core to the Bramha (a combo of paulownia, balsa, poplar, and beech), so it’s incredibly strong.”​
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
No more samba?? Thought it was "more" of a ski than the black pearl .. Maybe not?
 

Fluffy Kitty

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
No more samba?? Thought it was "more" of a ski than the black pearl .. Maybe not?
If I read it correctly, I think it is being rebranded as "98 Black Pearl". I assume their (rather substantial) differences will remain.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
If I read it correctly, I think it is being rebranded as "98 Black Pearl". I assume their (rather substantial) differences will remain.
I wonder. I was told I would probably not like the black pearl but would like the samba.. Which I do.. But never tried the black pearl.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
SnowHot's at the SIA show right now. I'm sure she'll report what's happening after the demo's next week.
 

elemmac

Angel Diva
1. If the Samba and presumably the Cheyenne are no longer in the line up, have they been re-branded as the new BP - or are the 2018 models entirely different skis?

Yes, they have been rebranded, and I believe there has been some changes to the construction, though I can't speak to what extent. The Sheeva looks like a complete overhaul.

2. What are the available lengths?

Same lengths as this year's.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
From Chair lift Chat - thank you SkiEssentials.


Women's All-Mountain Freeride:
Another really exciting development from Blizzard is their all new Women to Women concept. Blizzard is committed to designing and producing purpose built women's skis and are in many ways leading the charge in the women's freeride world with their new lineup. The Sheeva 10 and Sheeva 11 are the widest in the collection and are relatively easily comparable to the Rustler 10 and 11. The difference, however, is seen in the Women's Specific Construction and Women's Specific Shape concept. While they use the same Carbon Flipcore D.R.T. technology, these skis get two layers of carbon fiberglass reinforcement to ensure they are both light and strong. The shapes of the Sheevas are similar to the men's Rustlers, but use a women's specific progressive wide body with a snappy turn radius. These are bound to become favorites among adventurous women skiers who are always on the hunt for powder. The waist widths are 102 and 112 respectively so you can choose your width based on how much snow your local hill receives.


The Women's All Mountain Freeride collection has taken the ever popular Black Pearl and turned it into a theme carried across three skis: the Black Pearl 98, 88, and 78. Much like the men's all mountain skis the new Black Pearls have been given slightly shorter turn radii, but specific to women they use a uni-directional carbon frame instead of the Titanal sheets, multi-directional fiberglass and carbon layers, and a women specific shape concept with a mount point that has been moved slightly forward for better turn initiation. Women skiers across the board have been over the moon about the new Black Pearl series. We believe that they genuinely improve upon the success of the previous skis (the Samba, Black Pearl, and Cheyenne), while retaining what made those skis so great in the first place. Women skiers of all ability levels should keep an eye on these skis. Just like the men's skis we'll be updating this article with full length reviews, videos, and anything else that we think you might want to know about the new skis.

 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hmmmmm waiting for others who get to demo them to compare. Esp. the 98 and the Sheeva.
Not sure I dig the graphics. Glitter?
Much shorter radius -- thinking they are trying to be like the Santa Anna.
Oh and the pushed the mount point forward for front side skis from last year.
 
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santacruz skier

Angel Diva
@WaterGirl i'm hijacking the thread but what do you know about Faction skis? I'm at heavenly and eyeballing them to demo.. Also black crows.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Definitely try to get on both brands. I have only been on Black Crow Camox Birdie so far, can also try Atris and Captis Birdie - not sure what you can demo, seems like they may not have smaller sizes in US? but you could get in Europe ;) Haven't been on Faction but looks like they have wider range of sizes.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Ski tests are over at the big SIA. So more stuff like Ski Essential's should be out in the next few weeks.
 
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contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm not sure how much I like the forward mount points. This seems to be kind of a trend now. I'm excited to get out on these skis and try them, though! Having owned both the Samba and BP in the past, with the Samba being quite a lot of ski for me to push around, and the BPs rocker being a bit too vague for me (if that makes sense) it's going to be fun to ski them and see how different they are.
 

artistinsuburbia

Angel Diva
I'm not sure how much I like the forward mount points. This seems to be kind of a trend now. I'm excited to get out on these skis and try them, though! Having owned both the Samba and BP in the past, with the Samba being quite a lot of ski for me to push around, and the BPs rocker being a bit too vague for me (if that makes sense) it's going to be fun to ski them and see how different they are.
I was just discussing this with the bootfitter. He was telling me that there is an increase in requests for it a the shop. He feels it's because when people can't get over their skis, it chatters, if they move the mount forward, it tames the chatter on a rockered ski. It helps the skier to control the ski more easily. So the bp's may not ski you as much in the backseat anymore with the new thoughts on mount points. So it may even possibly be a marketing decision as a lot of people ski in the backseat, highlighting the issue, and by moving the mounting point forward enables a more novice skier to have better control, and thus like their product.
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was just discussing this with the bootfitter. He was telling me that there is an increase in requests for it a the shop. He feels it's because when people can't get over their skis, it chatters, if they move the mount forward, it tames the chatter on a rockered ski. It helps the skier to control the ski more easily. So the bp's may not ski you as much in the backseat anymore with the new thoughts on mount points. So it may even possibly be a marketing decision as a lot of people ski in the backseat, highlighting the issue, and by moving the mounting point forward enables a more novice skier to have better control, and thus like their product.
That's an interesting and logical explanation. My one beef is that some of these skis then have a lot of tail to try to release. So for me personally, you "fix" one thing but create another. Hmmmm...it's going to be fun to test them out! I'm one who got to the point where I was having issues getting the tips of the BPs to engage. Kinda wishing I had kept those skis just to play around with mount points, since they were on demo bindings.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@artistinsuburbia and @contesstant
Just a FYI When I went to demo this years 16/17 version of the Samba I was told that for maybe the 1st and or second year of production the mount point was different and the shop was subsequently told to mount 1cm forward of factory for that year(s). Apparently they fixed it for subsequent years.

You can always play around w/ mount point on demo bindings....
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@contesstant possibly interesting to you - the Santa Anas have a very forward default mount point.
 

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