Brands send us the sticks and we spend a solid chunk of our own seasons shredding them.
In those circumstances you have a blank slate, no preconceptions, no knowledge of what your friends think.
Reviewing an iconic ski like the Line Blend is another matter entirely.
It’s had the same footprint since 2009, and has been more or less unchanged since 12-13.
Back then, I preferred the Sir Francis Bacon as a fat park option.
And the team genuinely loves it.
So much so that they beg Line’s engineers year after year not to change it.
It was with this knowledge in mind that I mounted my pair and got to work skiing them.
The circa 20m sidecut is fairly middle-of-the-road and as a result will handle most kinds of turn well enough.
The prominent tips and tails mean I even quite like them for landing switch in fresh snow.
Which is why, while the shape carves really nicely, they get shaky at high speed.
And while they feel great in soft, light snow they are overpowered by heavy conditions.
However, with the soft flex comes an ease of overpowering.
Throw too much weight and you will fold the Blend in half and end up on your face.
Clearly guys like Peyben and Sami O don’t have the same issue.
On occasion, I didn’t.
Even at the comparatively low speeds indoors at The Snow Centre, I occasionally found myself overpowering them.
By the same token, the soft-flex and moderate camber combined provide almost no energy/rebound.
You have have to generate all your pop in your legs because the skis provide little of their own.
Some people like that feel but I prefer a little more energy.
Again, this is a precision issue.
Will Wesson and Kevin Salonius both ride the same 178 Blends I was riding and love them.
You couldn’t find a ski better for learning your first butters, progressing your rail game etc.
If that is a tradeoff you’re willing to make, then the Blend is a good answer.
One benefit of reviewing an established ski is that many of you have skied these.
So let me know what you think below.
Am I way off?
