Blizzard Black Pearl 94 Review

Our testers and female skiers everywhere have long appreciated the Blizzard Black Pearl line for its reliability as a top-performing all-mountain ski. The only common complaint was that it was missing that “je ne sais quoi” – it always did what was asked of it, no more, and generally lacked a sense of personality. The newly designed Black Pearl 94, however, features all of the dependability of previous models but with a new-found zest for life.

Performance Comparison

Stability at Speed

Is the Black Pearl 94 the fastest ship in the Caribbean? It's not the lumbering galleon that Jack Sparrow captained; rather, it's more of an agile monohull competing for the America's Cup. This ski is certainly quick, but to stick with the sailing metaphor for a moment longer, it prefers to tack along in tight corridors rather than opening up in the open ocean.

Holding strong at high speeds has always been traditional of the Black Pearl line, and the newest Black Pearl 94 does not diverge from that lineage. The ski is just stiff enough to feel powerful while also remaining accessible to skiers of lesser weight and ability thanks to a slightly softened flex pattern.

The ski is well balanced along its length, and a subtlely rockered tip avoids any front-half flimsiness. Torsionally, the Black Pearl 94 holds solidly to an edge up until its time to release its grip, such that it allows for velvety transitions between turns.

A few of our testers were occasionally thrown into the backseat at speed, with one tester noting that if she gave the ski too much input, it would rebound too strongly and throw her off balance. Another commented that they actually felt like the Black Pearl 94 was making a concerted effort to buck them onto their tails and then would punish them for being too far aft. The Black Pearl 94's hallmark turn is within a surprisingly snug radius, and our testers agree that as long as you don't try and force it, it moves beautifully – it's essentially a versatile slalom ski.

Carving Ability

Our testers were pleased to discover that any newfound playfulness in the Black Pearl 94 did not detract from its carving prowess. In fact, it seems to have only supplemented its ability to cut a turn. Not only does the ski's edge engage forcefully, but it also releases effortlessly to transition between turns. At only 94 millimeters underfoot, the ski feels narrow enough to roll quickly from edge to edge.

Although our testers got a huge kick out of carving on this ski, they also noticed that the Black Pearl 94 skids and butters nearly as well as it digs in and arcs. This makes it much more enjoyable to cruise around at lower speeds – like when you're skiing with your kids or less-experienced friends. Our test team also agrees that the Black Pearl 94 adeptly blends types of turns, easily combining a bit of smear with a dash of edge grip for a high-performance turn.

Turn Radius

One of the notable characteristics of the Black Pearl 94 is its penchant for tight, rapid turns. Even though our 170 cm test ski lists a 15.5-meter turn radius, our test team agrees it wants to make slightly shorter turns, more in the sub-14-meter range.

Most of our testers loved the snappy feel of the Black Pearl 94, but it may take some getting used to at first, especially if you've never skied something quite so nimble. Folks who are just learning to carve their skis will likely appreciate the tight turn radius because while turn transitions happen in quick succession, you're not actually moving down the mountain very quickly. Others who are used to opening up their turns – especially at speed – will need to adapt to the quick-turning Black Pearl 94, or else risk getting tossed into the backseat as it leaves you behind.

Powder Performance

The Black Pearl 94 totally surprised our test team with its powder performance. The naturally tight turn radius matched with a lightness in deeper snow made for a ski that we felt confident bouncing down narrow trees and couloirs.

Another surprise was that in deep snow specifically, our testers could feather and coerce the Black Pearl 94 into making a larger-radius turn without much difficulty. Without a solid surface to grip and rip, we could adapt the turn shape to suit the area where we were skiing.

Waist Width

At only 94 millimeters underfoot and with only a very slight tip rocker, we didn't expect that this ski would perform as well as it did in the deep stuff. Despite the design and specs, it floats surprisingly well in powder.

Thanks to the new flex pattern that supplies ample rebound, the Black Pearl 94 responds really well to a retraction turn in fresh snow. A “retraction turn” is a very functional powder turn, where you extend your legs in the middle of the turn to flex the ski and generate power, then retract them back underneath you as you transition to the next turn. Despite their relatively narrow waist width, a powerful kickback easily springs the Black Pearl 94 back to the surface.

Crud Performance

This is one of the few metrics where the Black Pearl 94 doesn't top the charts. It doesn't perform poorly in tough snow; it simply doesn't excel. To return to the sailing simile for a moment, when this ski encounters harbor chop, it behaves more like a foil than a cruise ship – it's more of a skimmer rather than a blaster, slicer, or barreller. Yet it generally fares pretty well, nimbly pivoting atop the crud while the relatively damp construction helps absorb some of the chop.

Blizzard's new blended woodcore is purposefully stiffer underfoot and softer in the tip and tail. Even though this greatly benefits the performance of the Black Pearl 94 elsewhere, it feels a bit too mushy in the tip to power through crud. The tip flexes and deflects too easily, forcing the skier to spend valuable energy correcting the course.

Terrain Playfulness

Flabbergasted is the best term to describe our testers' communal response to the redesigned Black Pearl 94. It is one of the most lively skis our testers have experienced in their many decades of combined experience on snow. After years of expecting not much besides bland predictability from the Black Pearl line, this new version instantaneously inspires joy.

The silky-smooth flex pattern generates the type of rebound that flings you effortlessly from one turn to the next. If you even just think about changing edges, it happens almost before your feet can catch up. As a true featherweight, we're not surprised by how lightweight it feels underfoot. One of our testers remarked that it felt “so light, it would pop off any tiny dimple in the snow,” easily getting airborne anytime it struck her fancy.

Bumps

Early on in testing, one of our team expressed concern that the lively energy of the Black Pearl 94 would lead to unpredictable results in the moguls – this question was quickly put to rest after her first bumps run. This ski's predilection for making tight turns makes it an ideal mate for skiing bumps.

Its ability to seamlessly blend skidded and carved turns translated into seamless zipper-line mogul runs for our testers. For every zipper line we skied, we stayed in it longer and skied it faster on the Black Pearl 94 than any other ski in our review. It also slayed late-spring snake runs. Our lead tester found she could easily sluff speed by throwing an extra stivot during each swooping banked turn.

Should You Buy the Blizzard Black Pearl 94?

If you already enjoyed the performance of the classic Black Pearl line, you'll find the same stability and reliability in the Black Pearl 94, but with the charisma turned up to 11. Its ability to perform across a variety of terrain and snow conditions makes it the epitome of an all-mountain ski. Expert skiers will love making energetic, tight turns on early-morning groomers and lightly bounding through powder. More novice skiers will appreciate that this ski is forgiving and helps them easily tackle new terrain. In nearly every situation, the Black Pearl 94 is truly, in the words of Captain Jack Sparrow, “nigh uncatchable.”

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