Alpine skis have undergone a lot of revolutionary designs in the past 20 years. From shaped skis, powder, twin tips, rocker, and reverse camber, it seems every year a new design changes the skiing world. Just when you think nothing else can be done to the shape of skis, Ogden-based Salomon comes along and challenges the status quo with the new BBR ski.
The BBR ski is the latest design from Salomon’s ski designer Bertrand Krafft. The guy is the one responsible for Salomon’s Pocket Rocket, which launched twin tip skis into the mainstream. Krafft’s newest design, the BBR, was inspired by water skis which have the ability to do everything the skier wants to do including “carve, cruise, float and play.”
Looking at the BBR ski, it reminds me of the Icelantic Shaman with its pronounced sidecut and giant shovel, only the BBR also has rocker. Here’s how Salomon describes the BBR:
BBR is unlike any ski ever made. The patented “V” shape redefines skiing on all types of snow.
An oversized tip and rocker shape enable it to float in powder and adapt to uneven terrain smoothly and predictably. With a narrow waist and pintail, a short radius and short effective edge on-piste, BBR provides great carving and outstanding edge grip on harder snow. The result is an incredibly playful ski, with great performance in any situation.
Interested in trying out the new BBR ski this season? Salomon will launch the ski with the Shape Your Adventure Tour, a nation-wide road trip to ski areas around the country where skiers can demo the BBR themselves. In fact, they say Salomon athlete Seth Warner will haul a bunch of BBR demo samples to almost every ski resort in the U.S. during the 2010/2011 season to give everyone a look at it, and hopefully a ride.
The BBR will have dimensions 147-88-102 and lengths 166/176/186. But Salomon says not to get hung up on the numbers, because the dimensions of this ski are not what’s important. They say the BBR doesn’t fall into any current product category, and to find out what the ski is all about, you just have to try it for yourself.
The BBR is currently available to the public through a special early program with 15 retail outlets that have the BBR in stock, and orders are being taken. A few pairs have even been sold already, so keep your eyes peeled in the lift line.
The BBR officially launches at Winterpark at SIA in January 2011.
To get all the latest about the Salomon BBR, visit their Twitter page. They’ve also launched a Facebook page as well.
Personally, I’m very intrigued by what this ski looks like and skis in person, especially because it has a pintail!
