by geoffda » Fri May 04, 2018 2:33 pm
Just skied JMD's pair of Blossom White Outs in a 176. It is a nice ski that is very versatile and handles all turn shapes well. Despite its 77mm waist it, tips onto edge easily and responds well to increasing tipping. The shovel engages nicely and will pull the ski into the turn with ease. All of that said, it is a surprisingly stiff ski and it requires some skill to extract the full measure of performance. It is a very damp ski, and while it doesn't feel particularly lively, it is far from dead. Rebound is solid, rather than springy.
Honestly, while I liked the ski, I didn't love it. 77mm underfoot isn't wide enough to offer much in the way of float and the extra width was unnoticeable to me in the deep crud. It is a burly ski and a solid crud buster, but even when skiing deep, soft crud, nothing about it made me demand to keep skiing it. While the White Out is race-like, it isn't a race ski and at the end of the day, there was nothing about the ski that made me not want my Head iSLs back. But know that I prefer race skis in all terrain and almost all conditions. Most skiers aren't like me. I concur with Max_501 that the White Out is a way better (and way more fun) ski than the Peak 78/84.
While there are plenty of reasons to like this ski, I think it is best suited for high level PMTS skiers who are looking for something a bit de-tuned from a full on race ski that they can ski fast and aggressively in all terrain and conditions. As a one-ski quiver (assuming you don't think of a slalom ski as a one ski-quiver), it is a good choice. Less skilled skiers (particularly those who are lighter and/or who lack free foot pullback) may struggle to make this ski perform.
To answer Co_Steve's question, the performance is comparable to the Dynastar Speed Zone 14. The Speed Zone 14 is narrower, but I prefer the way it skis to the White Out. IMO, the Dynastar is even damper and more glued to the snow and it has more of a race feel when you wind it up. I especially like how in short turns, the Dynastar actually gets springy at release, which is totally different from the way it behaves in medium radius or larger turns.