REASONS TO BUY
Solid powder performer
Better on hardpack than expected
Stable underfoot
REASONS TO AVOID
Not great in crud
Tip flap
Not stable along the whole length of the ski
Blizzard Sheeva 10 Review
While it's fun in fresh snow and better than expected on-piste, this ski doesn't stack up against the review's tough competition
Credit: Blizzard
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Our Verdict
The Blizzard Sheeva 10 does a wide variety of things with a degree of competency but doesn't necessarily stand out as an exceptional ski. Our expectations were also perhaps too high for this ski: One tester is a little obsessed with her pair of Black Pearl 88's, and she imagined the Sheeva 10 would be similar but fatter and better in powder. Unfortunately, this is not nearly as dependable as a versatile all-mountain ski. While it floats well in powder, it's not as sensational as we'd hoped from a ski measuring 102 millimeters underfoot. There is also a constant tendency towards tip-flapping that we found problematic.
Our Analysis and Test Results
We felt that Blizzard's Carbon Flipcore DRT technology, which attempts to strengthen the area of the ski underfoot while "reducing the torsional strength of the tip and tail," had pretty much exactly that effect. The part of the ski under our foot felt quite solid and stable, but the lightened tips and tails (done in hopes of better powder flotation and greater ease of turning) felt insecure. Unfortunately, this ski's buoyancy didn't seem to be enhanced enough to sacrifice stability.
Performance Comparison
This Blizzard ski was fun on a powder day, keeping us afloat with its 102-millimeter waist.
Credit: Nate Greenberg
Stability at Speed
You can see the tips flapping on the Sheeva 10 from a mile away when you get it moving at higher speeds. However, there is a certain steadiness immediately underneath your feet. Alas, the front third of the ski dancing around like a frog in a blender makes it uncomfortable at very high speeds. The edge hold capabilities are in the middle of our test group.
We felt and saw the tips of the Sheeva flapping wildly when we pushed the speed, but its edge-hold underfoot on hard-pack was decent.
Credit: Nate Greenberg
Carving Ability
Once again, the stability the Sheeva 10 displays underfoot make it fun for carving, if you can ignore the flappity-flop of the tips. It skis a little shorter than many others in our test and also feels surprisingly quick for its large size. The edge-to-edge agility is impressive for something as wide as 102mm underfoot. The 16m turn radius is unusual for a ski of this width, and it provides a zippy carve when laid on edge.
The center of the ski, under foot, likes to hold the edge and carve, but the tips and tails get a little loosey goosey.
Credit: Nate Greenberg
Powder Performance
The Blizzard Sheeva 10 is a floaty, fun ski in the powder, but it didn't blow us away in this metric as we'd hoped from a fat ski. "It did the job," said one tester but didn't do it spectacularly. This ski was solid and reliable in the fresh snow but didn't inspire us to stick with this model until the last chair.
The wide 102mm waist plus rockered tips and tails help the Sheeva stay on top of deep snow.
Credit: Nate Greenberg
Crud Performance
We'd had hopes that the Sheeva 10 would be a goddess powerful enough to bulldoze the chop, but in fact, it gave us a pretty bouncy ride and felt very limp and feeble towards the front of the ski.
The big tips tend to get deflected in the choppy snow, and they don't feel strong enough to push the chunks out of their way.
Credit: Nate Greenberg
Terrain Playfulness
While the Sheeva 10 is more playful than expected from such a bulky shape, we still didn't find the responsiveness and rebound we were looking for in this ski.
Powder is where this ski has the most fun.
Credit: Nate Greenberg
Bumps
The strength this ski provides underfoot makes it ski fairly well in the bumps, despite its behemoth form. It is more spry than anticipated from its size and can move rapidly through the moguls when prodded.
While we got a kick out of the Sheeva in fresh snow, it wasn't versatile enough to be ranked higher.
Credit: Nate Greenberg
Should You Buy the Sheeva 10?
The Blizzard Sheeva 10 is simply unremarkable. Even if you are exclusively a powder skier, this ski does not perform well enough across the board to justify it as a versatile, all-mountain option. There are certainly higher-scoring skis at a similar price point that will likely suit most skiers a bit better.
What Other Women's All-Mountain Skis Should You Consider?
The Blizzard Sheeva 10 is a jack of all trades but master of none. Although it was fun in fresh snow, the Elan Ripstick 94 W is a better powder ski. If you are looking for a playful ski to hop in and out of moguls, the Icelantic Riveter 95 is much more fun. If you'd rather have a stable, front-side carver, our top pick is the Volkl Secret 96. And of course, one cannot go wrong with the Nordica Santa Ana 98, a solid crud-buster and overall the best-performing ski in our review.
—
Renee McCormack
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