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Did Line totally just make the Head Supershape? Did they just get narc-ier with Lev and Josh both gone? Why does it seem so many freeski companies are going with so many more pure directional skis in their product lines?
Really just kidding - Always loved Line, and good on them for trying to appeal to different skiers. Can’t blame em to be honest. But for sure a little different!
**This thread was edited on Feb 20th 2020 at 8:13:39pm
I feel like a lot of people hating on this ski (not you OP) don’t like it cause they can’t ski outside of the park. I would love a pair of these to rip some groomers on.
SkibumsmithIt's because those of who were the most loyal to Line at their inception are now 30+ and we want some god damn dad skis from the brands we love!
Fantastic observation
**This post was edited on Feb 20th 2020 at 9:37:51pm
personally I think it's kinda cool when companies like this make interesting products like this the other thing that makes it unique is that unlike most frontside carving skis it is 95 underfoot, significantly lighter and if I dare more call it more "playful".
I think it's two different markets honestly. I think most of the people skiing head supershapes are barely aware Line as a company exists and aren't looking for a 95mm carving ski.
SkibumsmithIt's because those of who were the most loyal to Line at their inception are now 30+ and we want some god damn dad skis from the brands we love!
Amen brother. My first line ski was the Mike Nick followed by the Skogen Sprang Pro model. Im on the chronic, vision and magnum opus now but have been eyeing that Blade for those bulletproof east coast days to just ski frontside.
Why The LINE Blade?
The Blade is LINE’s take on a metal laminate freeride ski. It’s no secret that our roots go deep into the park and freestyle skiing scene, and those roots will never change, but as unfortunate as it is, you can’t really ski park forever. One day, you might wake up and realize you want a ski that can make the entire mountain your playground, a ski that allows you to rip down normal groomers as you’ve never done before. Instead of bending your blends all day long you want to euro carve your way around the mountain slash and slarve through the fresh snow that fell overnight and leave deep cut trenches in your wake. That’s where the Blade comes into play.
IMO they are sort of making it out to be the carving board of skiing, honestly love the design though. Wouldn't buy a pair for myself but if I had the chance to demo a pair I would
SkibumsmithIt's because those of who were the most loyal to Line at their inception are now 30+ and we want some god damn dad skis from the brands we love!
So much this. Line is absolutely crushing it lately with so many different twintip skis (chronic, vision, outline, new bacon) that are incredibly versatile all over the mountain, why not make a ski dedicated to piste that crushes in variable snow too?
my friends who skied on these had reactions ranging from "absolutely incredible" to "the best ski i've ever skied"...i havent tried em yet but I'm gonna try to get on a pair this weekend. going in pessimistic cause i dont wanna feel like a dad just yet haha
Aside: Peter Brigham actually designed all of the new releases from Line over the last couple years (including the blade), and is still continuing to innovate when it seemed like skis were as good as they could get. he is doing a damn good job at keeping skiing fun for us, and riding on really zany prototypes every time he is out just to push the boundaries so we get cool new gear.
shoutout to all the ski designers (especially Peter, the homie), who ski on weird shit every day so we can get perfect gear by the time it gets to market
Directional skis are really fun if you know how to carve. I have a pair of armada tracer 108s, which are labeled as directional and have skied the elan ripstik 106s and theyre both super fun everywhere i go... yeah you cant ski switch on em as well, but im rarely in the park anymore so I doesnt really bother me. I think most people are in the same boat.
Posted in another thread about these. I think they're pretty dope and would love to have/try a pair.
That said the line "a ski that can make the entire mountain your playground" might be my biggest pet peeve in the industry. I feel like legit EVERY company uses this line for skis haha.
im 19 and id be super down to try a pair of these. that being said i ski more big mountain-y stuff on my vishnu wides than park, but thats part of living in ak.
Mount point is also like -4 or something. Definitely a lot further forward than a traditional frontside carver. Intriguing ski...would love to demo them
dizzydizzySo much this. Line is absolutely crushing it lately with so many different twintip skis (chronic, vision, outline, new bacon) that are incredibly versatile all over the mountain, why not make a ski dedicated to piste that crushes in variable snow too?
my friends who skied on these had reactions ranging from "absolutely incredible" to "the best ski i've ever skied"...i havent tried em yet but I'm gonna try to get on a pair this weekend. going in pessimistic cause i dont wanna feel like a dad just yet haha
Aside: Peter Brigham actually designed all of the new releases from Line over the last couple years (including the blade), and is still continuing to innovate when it seemed like skis were as good as they could get. he is doing a damn good job at keeping skiing fun for us, and riding on really zany prototypes every time he is out just to push the boundaries so we get cool new gear.
shoutout to all the ski designers (especially Peter, the homie), who ski on weird shit every day so we can get perfect gear by the time it gets to market
I heard he’s a recent college grad who line picked up and he’s just been killing the game
If you want to rail hand-drag turns the whole way down every run, this is the ski for you. The tail is also turned up a little so doing the switch is no problem.
What I didn't like is that they didn't seem super versatile, even though they're like 150 or something in the tip. They really didn't want to smear or go sideways at all, and they felt uncomfortable going straight, like they literally only want to turn and that's it. They're just a really fat carving ski
ha! to be fair this was one of the last skis I helped develop and it's super gratifying to see the NS community seeing the bigger picture in these positive comments. The brand has never tried (on purpose) to be a me-too developer it was just our take on something fun as hell in the directional metal freeride-y realm which is a big world that needs more cool shit like this. Best part for NS-ers is it's not taking away from putting out new freestyle skis (new TW, new BLEND, Vision 118, Pandora 110) honestly amazing how we were able to get that all to market with such a small crew.
Malczykha! to be fair this was one of the last skis I helped develop and it's super gratifying to see the NS community seeing the bigger picture in these positive comments. The brand has never tried (on purpose) to be a me-too developer it was just our take on something fun as hell in the directional metal freeride-y realm which is a big world that needs more cool shit like this. Best part for NS-ers is it's not taking away from putting out new freestyle skis (new TW, new BLEND, Vision 118, Pandora 110) honestly amazing how we were able to get that all to market with such a small crew.
Fuck yea! Great stuff Josh. I’m sure it’s a bitchin ski, just thought it was worth the jest.
**This post was edited on Feb 24th 2020 at 1:57:01pm
it's like every company, why not market to a larger crowd?
more money, more hype. still have some pipe skiers out here on the blade, line wouldn't just piss on their legacy, still going to keep making park skis obvi
agreeing w op on the supershape lmao, blade is pre different. it has to be imo
c-friesDid Line totally just make the Head Supershape? Did they just get narc-ier with Lev and Josh both gone? Why does it seem so many freeski companies are going with so many more pure directional skis in their product lines?
Really just kidding - Always loved Line, and good on them for trying to appeal to different skiers. Can’t blame em to be honest. But for sure a little different!
**This thread was edited on Feb 20th 2020 at 8:13:39pm
Interesting. I guess theres a market for people who want to appear “honest” about their skiing ability because the dont (cant) ski switch. I think if you are one of these people you are trying to climb on top of people who buy twins but dont ski switch, which is kind of lame (on the one-directional skiers part).
If somebody rides twins because they think they look cool and they hope to one day bust out the switch on a green traverse to impress his wife/kids then its a pretty asshole move to hate on him just because hes not sending switch off kickers in the park.
My older brother tells me that no twin tips can compete with good one-directional skis under normal forward skiing conditions, which i think is bullshit. If all twin tips were garbage, one company would swoop in and make a great twin tip and steal the entire market as every non sponsored skier bought their great twin tip ski.
i think if you can land a trick easily on a 100 foot kicker like the pros do then the ski is probably pretty damn decent even if its a
twin.
my brother just wants to cop out and act like hes more honest and mature than twin tippers his age, even though he used to ride twins.
honestly for someone like me the blade would be a prime ski for my quiver. I race for my highschool to get out of school for a few days a week and lets be honest I would never fucking buy a legit pair of race skis cuz they cost too much. I also do enjoy carving, and having a ski like that where I could toss some carved out backies between race laps would be prime. honestly there's a bigger crowd that might buy these skis than a normal park ski. and I might actually buy a pair.
Though this was going to be a Mothership v2.0 or something...
If I wasn't on the east coast I'd be interested. I have racetiger SLs if I want to destroy groomers. Also half of NS has probably never tried ripping an actual high performance carving ski/race ski before. It's fun. If I lived elsewhere and was going out with some non NSer type skiers I'd grab something like this. Wide enough, probably not as uptight as a race ski but still performs at a high level.
c-friesDid Line totally just make the Head Supershape? Did they just get narc-ier with Lev and Josh both gone? Why does it seem so many freeski companies are going with so many more pure directional skis in their product lines?
Really just kidding - Always loved Line, and good on them for trying to appeal to different skiers. Can’t blame em to be honest. But for sure a little different!
**This thread was edited on Feb 20th 2020 at 8:13:39pm
so just to make it clear this ski was not developed or released when or because josh was gone. ? Like you don't make a ski within 7 days and push it out. Before you judge, this ski is a monster. Kills it in pow and groomers.
backyardcrackerwhy not expand ig, it's the same with car companies.
Well, when you expand a company's product line from a niche market like Line to a more broad line lineup like Atomic or Rossignol you lose some credibility with experts, people who enjoyed your products and grew your company in the first place. It would be like if Ferrarri started making SUVs or more affordable cars. It would hurt their rep with original customers, but it would spark the interest of more people.
Not saying its a bad thing, js there are downsides to every decision.
Chron_RabbitWell, when you expand a company's product line from a niche market like Line to a more broad line lineup like Atomic or Rossignol you lose some credibility with experts, people who enjoyed your products and grew your company in the first place. It would be like if Ferrarri started making SUVs or more affordable cars. It would hurt their rep with original customers, but it would spark the interest of more people.
Not saying its a bad thing, js there are downsides to every decision.
I have the Sakanas and love them. My only complaint is that the chatter a little bit at high speed. They are super fun in powder and soft snow, but not so much in firm snow. Would the Blades be the perfect complement, or do they overlap too much?
I have blizzard Brahma and didn't like them at all. Were not playful at all. I'm guessing that the Blade will be more fun than the Brahma.
I'm 44 and mostly try to ski off piste when I can, but thats not always possible. Don't ski switch, and I ski like a pussy in the park.
