We're giving you an inside look at what went into creating our NEW Masterblaster and Fastforward skis, dropping August 1st.
Last year's new Hotshot ski proved our crazy ideas work, breaking the barrier and making all-mountain freeride skis way more funner! This season we're bringing that same winning geometry and construction to the rest of the Charge Collection.
Some Backstory: For years customers have been telling me they are still skiing their original Line Prophet skis from decades ago because nothing else compares. The conversation always ends with them asking me... "When are you going to bring it back?!"
With that on my mind I went down to my basement ski archives and pulled out the GOAT Prophet 100 that pioneered the modern day all-mountain ski movement. I even mounted a pair to refresh my memory of what carving felt like before rocker. After laying down some trenches it was time to call Giray to fire up the CAD!
Long time Pro-Skier and Engineering ninja Giray Dadali had created last season's new Hotshot ski. Now it was time to combine that winning construction into narrower versions with some DNA sprinkled in from the legendary Prophet.
The goal is more grip and responsiveness for easier carving like our customers have been asking for, while applying our new light weight metal construction and a super intuitive and playful feel.
Giray narrowed the width of the skis to get us a bit more quickness, then deepened the geometry of the sidecut especially in the tip. We also lowered the rocker vs the previous versions to maximize edge length in contact with the snow and applied the light metal Hotshot construction.
Then the factory built us the first round of test prototypes. When we got the first pair in hand we were stoked to see how our new updates looked. You can see the inspiration here side by side with the G.O.A.T. on the right. 👀
We test the skis in Vermont, and Giray tests the same skis out in Utah so we have a good comparison of firm ice coast vs bigger mountains with deeper snow. We compare notes after to see if we noticed the same characteristics like speed limit, edge hold, flex, weight, maneuverability, and more. It's amazing how similar our conclusions are per prototype variation.📝
We always invite customers like you to join our tests so we gain a broad variety of opinions. We're making these skis for YOU... not just the pros!
Every round of prototyping consists of 3 to 6 flex variations. We ski them all back to back on the exact same run to clearly feel the difference between the skis without knowing the technical differences so we have unbiased opinions on which version skied the best. No, we're not doom scrolling! We're making notes after each run to share and discuss with each other and Giray at the end of the day. 📈
The first protoypes were good, but we knew we could do better so Giray went back to the drawing board and we spent a ton of time discussing all of the possible geometry and construction improvements. Then handed the factory the next round of designs to build new molds for round two.
By late winter we were on our fourth round with dozens of variations of protos behind us. We couldn't have been more stoked on how damn good these new skis perform! We're proud to have a fresh NEW Charge Collection lineup for the next generation of corduroy killers. ⚔️
NEW MASTERBLASTER & FASTFORWARD
DROP AUGUST 1ST
They're lightweight, playful, quick, agile, with a ton of grip to rip groomers on firm days while maintaining plenty of float in fresh snow. We brought back the soul of a legend while enhancing everything that makes a modern all mountain ski so damn versatile and as always, way more fun and playful than any other ski in the all-mountain category. Mission accomplished!