A Revolution; The 2012 Salomon BBR
***UPDATE: See our blog with a new Salomon BBR 10.0 Review***
Every few years, something comes along in ski design that captures the imagination of the skiing public so completely, that it revolutionizes the market. This doesn’t happen very often but when it has happened in the past, the concept has often been the brainchild of Salomon’s Bernard Bertrand. Bernard who is often known as Beber is not just a ski engineer or a marketing guy. Rather he is an imaginative designer with roots that deeply embedded in both surfing and skiing. Beber has always strived for ways to make skiing easier and more accessible to the market and some famous designs of his include Salomon’s X-Scream and Pocket Rocket. Both of which dramatically altered the landscape of ski design.
Beber’s newest creation is the new Salomon BBR model for 2012. This ski model looks so radically different from other ski designs that it warrants double takes in the lift line. The most noticeable difference in the BBR is that the tip is amazingly wide and is shaped like a surfboard while the rest of the ski tapers dramatically to a very narrow tail. The effect of a large amount of taper has been known for years but the BBR takes it to an unheard of level. The BBR comes in two versions with roughly similar capabilities and so, I am reviewing both together. The 8.9 is wider and stiffer, comes in longer lengths, and is generally suited for men or very strong women. The BBR 7.9 is softer, a little narrower And comes in shorter sizes. Some of our women testers skied both versions and which one they preferred was relative to their level of aggressiveness.
The BBR looks so different from other ski designs that when a skier first sees it, the question is invariably the same……“what does it do?” The answer to that is…….. “everything” I found that the major effect of the huge tip is that the BBR engages at the tip with the barest thought of an ankle roll. The huge taper angle allows the tail to skid easily at the finish of the turn. This gives the skier the ability to either tighten up the turn radius or open up the turn radius just by ankle movements. While this can be done on other skis too, it is dramatically easier and more effective on the BBR.
The extremely wide tip and narrow tail gives much more flotation in powder than the waist width would otherwise suggest and the tip stays up without having to sit back on the tails of the skis. The narrow tail can skid or slide around in the powder and this combination makes the BBR the best powder ski in its width class. The BBR can also make varying turn shapes with ease on groomed snow or in shallower mixed soft snow conditions. Even the skier that likes to lay the ski way up on edge for big GS type carves will find that the BBR can even do that reasonably well.
The BBR is not the ski for the gnar eater or the cliff jumper. Rather, it is a ski that can make new terrain available to mid to high level skiers that have maybe been stuck in a groomer rut. This skier may want to sample some off trail conditions and maybe ski a little powder but he does not want to give up a comfortable feel on groomers. The BBR is way more comfortable on typical everyday terrain than the uber-wide rockered powder skis. Some skiers are a little over analytical about ski characteristics and how it relates to performance. The BBR is best appreciated by skiers that are not so analytical but rather are just motivated by the experience. One of our women testers is the epitome of this kind of skier. She joked about her testing analysis by saying….. “All you’re gonna get from me is a smiley face or a frowny face on my test card. I probably won’t know why I’m scoring the ski the way I do, all I care about is whether it is fun or not and the BBR got the biggest smiley of the day”