You may have driven by the Slant Skis factory store many times on your way into Tahoe City and never really noticed it. You can’t get any more local, located only 5 miles from the Alpine Meadows parking lot. While Josh Bennett has been making Slant skis in Lake Tahoe since 2007, Slant is not as well known as some of the other indies around Tahoe. Regardless, their offerings are well built, affordable and a heckuva lot of fun.
Today, we’re reviewing two similar skis, both are a perfect every day one ski quiver. Both skis stand out in the Slant lineup, as both feature sublimated artwork directly on a bamboo top sheet. It’s a great reminder that all of Slant’s skis are built around a sustainable bamboo core. Without getting too narrow minded, the Blaze is likely suited for men or larger skiers and the NoPro is suited for women or smaller skiers. Personally I kind of like the flower graphics on the NoPro, but the NoPro only goes up to 172cm in length.
The Blaze
After 3 full seasons, I’m now on my third pair of Slant Blaze skis. The first pair I pretty much skied to death, putting over 250 days on them in 2 seasons. If you know me, I tend to abuse my equipment, with core shots and edge shots being frequent occurrences as the season begins, or finding that last line down Sherwood in the spring. The second pair had an unfortunate meeting with an everlasting wax treatment that was not applied properly by an unnamed local shop. They never skied the same, earning me the nickname of Pokey for much of last season. It had nothing to do with Josh or the skis themselves. He made his best effort to revive them from the sticky goop applied by another shop.
So this season, I moved on to a new, and larger, pair of Blaze skis. 192 centimeters seems incredibly long when those skis are in the rack or in my locker. But once they are on my feet, that length goes away. Thanks to an equally healthy amount of tip and tail rocker, the effective edge is 137 cm. The turn radius is still only 24 meters, so they are reasonably nimble for a long ski. The full stats are 128-102-122. While 102mm underfoot is not what many people would call a powder ski, that big shovel in front provides plenty of flotation for most powder days. (When we get that really big day, I will throw my Slant Diplomats in the car)
We already mentioned the earth friendly bamboo topsheet and core. Guess what? There are bamboo sidewalls too. There’s carbon fiber in there for a lively poppy feel that makes the ski very energetic. Finishing off the quality construction is a fully wrapped beefy metal edge and a sintered 4001 race base. Overall these skis are relatively light compared to skis that include much more plastic. Slant backs their skis with a 2 year warranty, something I have never had to use. If you ever did, the factory is right there, just 5 miles from Alpine Meadows- that’s far more convenient than the last time I had to warranty a pair of Salomons!
Skiing purists are always asking me if there’s metal in the Slant skis, and the answer to that is no. If you like the lively energy of a bamboo core ski, you’ll be just fine. The Blaze excels at rallying groomed slopes, shredding small bumps, most Tahoe powder days, and the following Tahoe crud days.
I used to have a problem with the Blaze on days where groomed slopes got scraped down with piles of sugar. I found it difficult to hold an edge as my tips got pushed by sugar piles. Now you know why I sized up this year, as I am not a small guy. That longer effective edge solved that issue. The one area where these skis are challenged is in coral reef conditions. Things get a bit flappy. You really need metal, or a solid 2×4, to maintain control in a coral reef. I don’t like skiing a damp metal ski all of the time, just in case I find myself in some coral reef. It’s easier to just avoid the reef.
The NoPro
My wife Ann has been skiing the Slant Hindsight for the last few seasons. This season, she got an upgrade for a birthday present and now has the NoPro as her every day ski. The NoPro is very similar in construction to Blaze, excepting that it has less tail rocker and comes in shorter sizes. The longest length for the NoPro is 172cm, hence the suggestion of it being a ski for women or smaller skiers. The specs on the longest NoPro are 129-100-120 with a 19 meter turn radius.
So I haven’t actually skied this ski myself, as my BSL is quite a bit longer than my wife’s. I can tell you what she tells me and what I observe when she skis. The first thing is that there’s no more discussion about whether to use her every day skis or her powder skis. That’s important, because an instructor I trust pointed out that the most important thing is that you learn to ski your particular ski well. Using the same ski every day has really worked to her advantage, as well as increasing the available space in our ski locker.
It took her a few runs to adapt to the wider ski underfoot when skiing groomers, but that was all it took. Overall what I see is a more confident skier, that trusts that her skis are going to guide her through more difficult terrain. It’s a treat to see her charging into Skadi Hill with a huge smile on her face on a powder day. That stability of a wider ski combined with the light weight and short turn radius can’t be beat for improving confidence. More often than not, this season she is right on my tails as I get to the lift corral.
That top sheet can’t go without mention. The sublimated flowers on the bamboo top sheet gets oohs and ahs on every lift ride. People love the simple diamonds on mine as well. The Blaze retails for $899 and the NoPro retails for $849. No, not as cheap as the pair your brother-in-law got at Sports Basement for $359, but certainly right in line with comparable skis. If you tell Josh you heard about them at UnofficialAlpine.com, he might even knock a few bucks off. If not, they’re still well worth it.
Check out the entire lineup at SlantSkis.com
