Blizzard

I can fully subscribe to what is written on the sidewall of the Blizzard Rustler: "Live The Moment". Three words that can easily be applied to other areas of life, but are definitely the law with the Rustler under your feet. I've taken a closer look at the award-winning steam hammer over the last two seasons.

ISPO, an interesting but also very exhausting trade fair, has been postponed from January to autumn. However, we at PowderGuide are still doing our best to provide you with information about the material for the upcoming season.

To be honest, I don't even know how I came up with this Gear of the Week. I think it rather found me! I had been looking for skis that would suit my needs for some time, namely slalom skis for pre-season preparation on the piste and for in-between, a powder ski for fat days, an everyday freeride ski and an early-season touring ski for 2,000 vertical meters plus, narrow couloirs and alpine adventures.

As expected, there was little news presented at this year's online ISPO and at individual product presentations by manufacturers. Many retailers still have stock from 2020, which is why some model ranges are carry-overs for the coming season. This mainly affects the downhill-oriented models.

There are a few new developments in the ski sector that should be of interest to PowderGuide readers. In addition to a few new touring models, most companies have tidied up their freeride portfolios. Roughly summarized, most of the new top models come in medium widths around 105mm, with Titanal for lift-assisted skiing, as well as without Titanal and in similar, lighter versions as touring models.

As was to be expected, there are hardly any innovations or groundbreaking new products in the ski sector for the 2017/18 season. Ultimately, almost all manufacturers are taking up the ideas from previous years and presenting them in the form of further expanded freetouring series. They try to differentiate themselves from one another through various lightweight construction methods and sometimes incorporate complex designs into the ski structure, or offer a cheaper price point or entry-level model. Flagship models are given an asymmetric sidecut with an asymmetric tip design, which is presumably a foretaste of the ski design in the coming years. As we saw last year, powder twin tips continue to die out for many major manufacturers. There are more and more directional, lightweight skis with center widths of 90-110mm or for "bad snow".

Once again this year, PowderGuide partner companies UVEX, Blizzard and Tecnica invited a number of journalists from the sports and outdoor industry to get to know their latest products - even before the presentation at ISPO. This time the test took place in Zürs am Arlberg. PowderGuide was of course also there to take a look at the new products.

Winter has only just begun in the Alps, and ISPO in Munich and the presentation of new products for the coming season are already just around the corner. Traditionally, shortly before the actual show at the trade fair, some companies invite journalists to test the new products in practice. This year, beautiful Kals at the foot of the Grossglockner was the venue for presentations, daring test tours, friendly shop talk and, due to the conditions in the terrain, fun on the slopes.

With its Zero series, Austrian ski manufacturer Blizzard promises nothing less than to "initiate a revolution in the touring segment" - in other words: lightness without compromising downhill performance. That sounds exactly like the ski we've always been looking for. For this reason, during a trip to New Zealand, we tested under a wide range of conditions to see whether the Zero G is the ski with which we can enjoy a "hard" descent after an "easy" ascent.