Help Needed: Santa Ana 88 vs Black Pearl 88 vs Sheeva 9

[Judeskier]

Dear Divas,

I'm new to the forum and to the sport. Actually, not completely new, I come from a snowboarding background but have recently made a switch to skis and loving it so far!

I'm 5'1 and weigh about 105lbs. We are in New Zealand and our terrain is more hard pack and icy, turning into more soft and slushy on warmer days. On a snowboard, I am pretty happy on easy blacks (but not double blacks). There are heaps to learn on skis, but hoping the fact that I'm already familiar with the concept of speed and terrains will help progress a little quicker. Despite our "not to be too excited" icy terrains, it would be nice if my one-ski-quiver could handle say, a short trip to Japan

Unfortunately, where I am I don't have a chance to demo any skis (I live in the city), but with the help of you ladies, I'm down to the following choices which I could get locally from shops in the country:

1. Blizzard Black Pearl 88 - 152cm
2. Blizzard Sheeva 9 - 148cm
3. Santa Ana 88 - 151cm

I had my eyes on the BP88s for a while, but worried that 152 might be a bit of a challenge for my weight to steer? Then I come across the Sheeva 9 which happens to be available in 148, and interestingly, the waist width is only 90 for this length, not 92 (as for the rest of the lengths in the series)! This makes it very similar to the BP88! SA88 seems to be another contender which is highly regarded and it's also available in the size range, so I'm throwing it in the mix

Any help and advice will be gratefully appreciated!

 

[contesstant]

The Black Pearl won't be a challenge to steer, as you can almost ski those on auto pilot. The Sheeva 9 is a lot more ski (IMO, having owned both last season) to manage, as is the Santa Ana 88. The Sheeva also is much more geared towards soft snow than the BP. The Santa Ana handles both well.

If you want to play it safe, I'd go with the BP. For ice, the Santa Ana (which I also own, it pushed the other two out of my quiver) is the best option of the 3, but it's quite a bit burlier of a ski than the BP. I'm not sure how a smaller gal like yourself would do on it, especially with limited overall ski experience.

Don't overlook the BP 82. I skied it last winter for a couple runs and it's a hoot! For someone of your size, it'd be a really great one-ski quiver and will do better on firmer conditions than any of them.

 

[tinymoose]

What length skis are you currently skiing? I've never tried the Sheevas or Santa Anas so can't personally speak to those, but did get to try the Black Pearls out in Alta last year. I skied them in both a 145 and 152. 145 felt a bit short for me on the groomers, and 152 a bit long at times. Loved the 145 though in bumps and ungroomed snow; they made me feel like a bit of a rock star. This was my take on them, if you're interested: https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/2018-volkl-yumi-and-black-pearl-88.22628/

I think my biggest concern/question mark based on my demo of the Black Pearls is how well they do in icier conditions?? I tried them out west on decidedly not icy hardpack. Sounds like your ski conditions are pretty similar to what we get here in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic, aka the "Ice Coast."

I'm basically your size, both height and weight, and currently own Head Jr Slalom skis and Volkl Yumis.

 

[santacruz skier]

Dear Divas,

I'm new to the forum and to the sport. Actually, not completely new, I come from a snowboarding background but have recently made a switch to skis and loving it so far!

I'm 5'1 and weigh about 105lbs. We are in New Zealand and our terrain is more hard pack and icy, turning into more soft and slushy on warmer days. On a snowboard, I am pretty happy on easy blacks (but not double blacks). There are heaps to learn on skis, but hoping the fact that I'm already familiar with the concept of speed and terrains will help progress a little quicker. Despite our "not to be too excited" icy terrains, it would be nice if my one-ski-quiver could handle say, a short trip to Japan

Unfortunately, where I am I don't have a chance to demo any skis (I live in the city), but with the help of you ladies, I'm down to the following choices which I could get locally from shops in the country:

1. Blizzard Black Pearl 88 - 152cm
2. Blizzard Sheeva 9 - 148cm
3. Santa Ana 88 - 151cm

I had my eyes on the BP88s for a while, but worried that 152 might be a bit of a challenge for my weight to steer? Then I come across the Sheeva 9 which happens to be available in 148, and interestingly, the waist width is only 90 for this length, not 92 (as for the rest of the lengths in the series)! This makes it very similar to the BP88! SA88 seems to be another contender which is highly regarded and it's also available in the size range, so I'm throwing it in the mix

Any help and advice will be gratefully appreciated!

I'm exactly your size and weight, probably older and more experienced but I demoed the BP 88 in a 152 in Taos and thought it was a really fun ski . Conditions were such that we skied mostly groomers with a few bumps here and there. I want to try the Sheeva 9 but I would go for the 157 as somewhere I heard it skis short. Maybe @contesstant ? I demoed the Sheeva 10 in a 156 or 157 and it was a blast in heavy snow in Tahoe. Have not tried the SA 88 but have demoed both the older version of the SA 100 in both a 153 and 161 and was kind of underwhelmed in the heavy Sierra Cement - probably about 3 -4 ft of it fell in a couple days. I would like to try the SA 88 though as heard good things about the ski. Would not use for a powder day in Tahoe with several feet of heavy snow though. I have other skis for that!

 

[vanhoskier]

At your size, and given the fact that you can have icy conditions (New Zealand is more like New England conditions, not Western conditions), AND given the fact that you are fairly new to skiing (your edge changes occur via lateral movements, not fore-aft movements as on a snowboard), I would look more closely at a ski around 82mm in width. Why? Because it will teach you to make much better, more refined movements with better edge grip, while still being able to handle new snowfall.

Black Pearl 82 is a good choice. All the fun of its big sister but with an easier to carve width.

Also, Liberty V82W. Fun ski that will help your technique while doing anything you want it to do.

Also, Völkl Yumi. The new one, redesigned last season, is great and will carve, handle ice, yet be great if you are blessed with Japan-like conditions.

Speaking of Japan....if it dumps there, you can rent powder skis. But if you are not quite there with your confidence, your own ski will do well on groomers there. My nephew skis there a lot (he lives in the Far East) and he does not own powder skis. Just sayin’.

There are a lot of ski manufacturers that make a lot of good skis in this width range. K2, Dynastar, and Elan have some nice stuff as well.

Dynastar 4x4 comes to mind.

I work in a ski shop. I see a lot of women come in and get an 88-90 waist ski because it’s on the “cool list,” but then I see those same women at the mountain and many are not carving, not using their edges as they should, because it’s harder to learn on a ski wider than your foot. Even if you are a snowboarder. And, on icy conditions, they aren’t always so happy.

Buy a ski that will help you ski better in the conditions you most often ski, not the conditions you hope to ski.

 

[badger]

Another small skier here: 5'1 @ 95 pounds. I would not want to be on a Black Pearl on icy hardpack.
The above-mentioned skis you are investigating have quite a bit of rocker, which is not great for icy snow, especially if you are adjusting to the change of skiing vs snowboarding.

I'd be looking at skis for 80% of the snow conditions you are likely to be skiing on most of the season.
Have you considered something at or below 80 width?
All of us encounter slush in the warmer weather and may use a wider ski if we have one, but not everyone does, and has to manage those grabby patches with whatever ski they have.

BTW, welcome to the Sunny side of the Street.

 

[badger]

Also................Get boots first if you have not already.

 

[marzNC]

Paging @fgor . She had a chance to demo several skis the past few months in NZ.

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...skis-c6-apollo-black-pearl-88-sheeva-9.23990/

 

[marzNC]

Unfortunately, where I am I don't have a chance to demo any skis (I live in the city), but with the help of you ladies, I'm down to the following choices which I could get locally from shops in the country:

1. Blizzard Black Pearl 88 - 152cm
2. Blizzard Sheeva 9 - 148cm
3. Santa Ana 88 - 151cm

I had my eyes on the BP88s for a while, but worried that 152 might be a bit of a challenge for my weight to steer? Then I come across the Sheeva 9 which happens to be available in 148, and interestingly, the waist width is only 90 for this length, not 92 (as for the rest of the lengths in the series)! This makes it very similar to the BP88! SA88 seems to be another contender which is highly regarded and it's also available in the size range, so I'm throwing it in the mix

Welcome! Whatever you get should probably be geared more for NZ than Japan. Can always rent if a trip to Japan ends up with deep powder.

I'm 5'0, 111 lbs, older, advanced now but was more of an advanced intermediate when I started buying skis for trips to big mountains. I've demo'd all three but at different lengths. The Sheeva 9 @148 would be too short because of the rocker. I really liked the Santa Ana 88 @158 on groomers at a northeast mountain. But at the same time there are a lot of women in the northeast on the BP88. Couldn't tell you exactly why technically, but the SA88 feels a bit more forgiving.

For what it's worth, I've skied my 85mm all-mountain skis in 6-10 inches of fresh powder. Takes a little more concentration than with 95-105 underfoot, but it's still fun.

 

[vanhoskier]

I would add Atomic Vantage 80ti to the list.
Also the Liberty V76W.

 

[Judeskier]

Oh thanks so much for all the advises! The support here is overwhelmingly brilliant!

Yes! I got boots. But the ones I got have the WTR soles, a little mishap where I didn't quite thought it through when I bought them (great fit though). That's one of the reasons for the need to proceed into getting the rest of the gear soon as most rental gear won't accommodate WTR soles.

I tried searching up the alternatives you have all suggested, unfortunately, we didn't seem to have the Black Pearl 82 here in NZ at all and many other ones (like the Yumi) are out of the sizes I want by this time of the season :-(

This time of the season is often limited with options, but if luck strikes with the right size of whatever remains, they are usually discounted at very good prices though!

 

[fgor]

Oh yes, I haven't demoed any of the Santa Ana skis and unfortunately there was no Black Pearl 82 in the demo fleets (i also haven't seen that ski for sale anywhere in NZ....) but I did have quite a time deciding between the BP88 and the Sheeva 9 when a local place had some really amazing deals on Blizzard skis - personally I'm happy with my choice, when I was demoing them there was a lot of soft snow that day (in fact it was actively snowing in the afternoon) and they both performed admirably, but some weeks after buying the Black Pearl, I saw the Blizzard demo stand back again and had another go at the Sheeva 9 for fun. It wasn't a snowy day and it made me realise that I'm definitely happy with the ski I got - I'm not an aggressive skier and the Sheeva 9 is juust a bit harder to drive than the BP88. Overall I felt more confident on the BP88 and I was really excited to get back on them I'm sure a more aggressive or advanced skier would have loved the Sheeva 9 in all conditions, and it's definitely a great ski in deeper softer snow!