Review: Blizzard Hustle 10 Skis · 2024
By Ski Expert
Luke H.
Blizzard Hustle 10 Skis · 2024
$559.97
$799.95
30% off
5 photos
The Curated Take
4.0/5
The Blizzard Hustle 10 Skis, with its playful tip, tail, and lightweight construction, is ideal for skiing powder and soft snow, offering excellent floatation due to a 104 mm waist and extensive rocker. The use of carbon for midsection solidity improves edge grip for carving at lower speeds. The Hustle is not designed for high-speed groomers but shines in off-piste conditions with a lively, playful attitude. Despite a tendency of slight wear on the topsheet, the ski is durable and versatile for both off-piste resort and backcountry skiing. This ski is an excellent choice for intermediate to expert skiers seeking a balance between uphill and downhill performance.
Ideal for
- Very versatile ski, capable of skiing powder, ice, trees, and steeps
- Designed to be sturdy enough for the resort and light enough for touring
- Rocker profile and quick turn radius make it easy to manuever in technical terrains
Not ideal for
- Not great at carving: the extensive rocker in the tip and tail limit the effective edge of the ski
- There are better options for a resort-only ski
- Lighter construction means it lacks some stability at top speeds
Flotation
I was lucky enough to pick up a pair of Hustle 10s at the beginning of what would go down as Utah's snowiest winter ever recorded, so it's safe to...Read more
Carving
The Hustle can actually carve reasonably well for short-radius turns and at lower speeds. The carbon in the midsection of the ski creates solid edge grip, and the rockered tip...Read more
High Speed Stability
The Hustle is definitely a fun-first, business-second type of ski; it's designed for tearing through powder and off-piste terrain, not smoking down high-speed groomers like a downhill racer. Blizzard specifically...Read more
Playfulness
Whoa boy; the Hustle 10 is fun first! Unlike stiffer, more damp skis, the Hustle relies on the rocker in its tip and tail and the pop and energy from...Read more
Durability
I've used the Hustles for a full season now as my go-to touring ski, so they've seen a ton of action. And so far, they have held up quite well,...Read more
Turn Ease
The Hustle 10 shares the same shape and profile as the popular Rustler 10, which was designed to be a more playful and freeride-oriented sibling to the much stiffer and...Read more
Versatility
The Hustle was designed by Blizzard to be a hybrid ski, a ski capable of skiing both the resort and being touring-capable. Finding a ski that can do both is...Read more
Expert Reviews of the Blizzard Hustle 10 Skis
Luke H. The Hustle is a brand new line from Blizzard, and was designed to be a hybrid ski, a ski capable of both tackling the resort and being touring capable for backcountry. In essence, the Hustle is the same shape and profile as the very popular Rustler line, but with a lighter construction; the Rustler has metal underfoot, whereas the Hustle has carbon instead to lighten the ski considerably. It can be hard to find a ski that is sturdy enough for resort skiing and still light enough for touring uphill, but the Hustle delivers on both fronts. The carbon layer gives the ski enough oomph that it can confidently tackle the whole mountain at a resort, but the ski weighs in at roughly 1,750 grams per ski in the 180. It's not the lightest touring ski, but it beats a lot of all-mountain skis with metal in them. I've skied the Hustle in every type of snow condition now, and it truly shines in soft snow and powder. The rockered tip and tail, combined with the 104 mm waist, gives the ski plenty of float, but the stiffer midsection allows me to drive the ski hard when I want to. The Hustle is a great option for an upper intermediate to expert skier who wants just one pair of skis capable of both downhill and uphill.
Product Specs
| Age Group | Adult |
| Gender | Men's |
| Includes bindings | No |
| Model year | 2024 |
| Ski type | Backcountry, Freeride, All Mountain |
| Skill level | Intermediate, Advanced |
Review Ratings
Flotation
5/5
Luke H. gave 5 of 5 stars. I was lucky enough to pick up a pair of Hustle 10s at the beginning of what would go down as Utah's snowiest winter ever recorded, so it's safe to say—I skied a lot of powder on these skis! The Hustle has a 104 mm waist, so it's far from the widest powder ski out there, but it provided more than ample float for all but the very deepest of deep days (and those days were epically deep!). Plus, the ski is made for soft snow, due to the extensive rocker in the tip and tail, which allow the ski to float up and surf through powder. The Hustles were designed to excel in soft snow, and they did that all winter long for me.
Carving
3/5
Luke H. gave 3 of 5 stars. The Hustle can actually carve reasonably well for short-radius turns and at lower speeds. The carbon in the midsection of the ski creates solid edge grip, and the rockered tip makes it easy to tip the ski on edge and initiate a turn. But those same benefits became limitations when I tried to drive the ski harder. The rockered tip did not leave a lot of room to drive more power through the front of the ski, so the Hustle reached its limit very quickly. And the shorter camber underfoot did not feel as stable when carving longer radius turns. I enjoyed carving short, lazier turns on the Hustle, but it was fragile when I turned to more aggressive carving.
High Speed Stability
3/5
Luke H. gave 3 of 5 stars. The Hustle is definitely a fun-first, business-second type of ski; it's designed for tearing through powder and off-piste terrain, not smoking down high-speed groomers like a downhill racer. Blizzard specifically designed the tip and tail of the Hustles to be less torsionally stiff than the middle of the ski so it would be more agile and nimble in soft snow. So on ice and groomers, at high speeds, the tip and tail become a liability; the lack of torsional stiffness cause the tip and tail to chatter. Also, the ski simply doesn't track well at high speeds, due to the shorter effective edge of the ski. I could get the Hustle up to speed, no problem, but I often shut it down because of the instability.
Playfulness
5/5
Luke H. gave 5 of 5 stars. Whoa boy; the Hustle 10 is fun first! Unlike stiffer, more damp skis, the Hustle relies on the rocker in its tip and tail and the pop and energy from its carbon backbone for a very lively ride. The Hustle is so-so at going super fast on groomers and ice, but it makes up for it with its energy skiing off-piste. The Hustle really comes alive in soft snow, where I could push the ski hard if I wanted to, but I could also slash through powder pockets and smear over rollovers. I found myself pushing the tail of the ski to spray snow up into my face, which was absurdly fun. The Hustle isn't playful in the style of a park ski, but for all-mountain skiers, it has a much more joyful attitude than similar all-mountain skis.
Durability
4/5
Luke H. gave 4 of 5 stars. I've used the Hustles for a full season now as my go-to touring ski, so they've seen a ton of action. And so far, they have held up quite well, with the normal nicks and scratches on the bases that are normal for skiing 70+ days a year. The ski has a traditional sandwich sidewall construction, which I am a huge fan of it. Not only does it help drive more power through the ski, but it tends to be much more durable in the event that I hit a rock on an edge. My only complaint durability-wise has been nicks of topsheet coming off the tip of the ski: it is purely cosmetic, and does not affect the skis' performance, but I would rather it did not happen.
Turn Ease
4/5
Luke H. gave 4 of 5 stars. The Hustle 10 shares the same shape and profile as the popular Rustler 10, which was designed to be a more playful and freeride-oriented sibling to the much stiffer and heavier Blizzard Bonafide. So the Hustle has healthy rocker in both the tip and tail, and, though the ski can carve if needed, it's actually better suited to pivoting and sliding through a turn. The Hustles were very agile through trees and moguls, where the shorter effective edge and softer flex pattern than the Rustler gave the ski some pop and liveliness between turns. The Rustler is already a fairly user-friendly ski, and with the Hustle swapping out the Rustler's metal construction in favor of carbon instead, the Hustle is even more user-friendly right out of the gate.
Versatility
4/5
Luke H. gave 4 of 5 stars. The Hustle was designed by Blizzard to be a hybrid ski, a ski capable of skiing both the resort and being touring-capable. Finding a ski that can do both is no easy task; most resort skis are much too heavy to spend long hours hiking uphill, and most touring skis are too light to endure the rigors of resort skiing. But the Hustle manages to find the balance. At roughly 1,750 grams per ski, it's lighter than most resort-specific skis, so it can go uphill without destroying my legs, but the carbon backbone and sandwich sidewalls result in a ski that is still stiff enough that I don't feel like I'm skiing on wet noodles in the resort. It doesn't master either domain, but if I could pick only one ski to use for both, the Hustle is it.
FAQs
What was your favorite moment with this gear?
Luke H. Having used the Hustle 10 during Utah's snowiest winter ever recorded, I have had more amazing moments on this ski than I can count. But easily the most memorable moment was topping out on a snowy ridge after a long slog. Our approach had kept our line hidden from us, so we had no idea what to expect. But as we peered over our ski tips, a field of untouched powder beckoned us. I dropped in tentatively at first, gauging the snowpack for any weaknesses, but the snow was pristine; a foot of fluffy powder on top of a supportable base. I immediately opened it up, gaining speed and floating effortlessly down the face. I even let out a long "Woo-Hoo." The line stretched on seemingly forever, and I made easy, long, surfy turns all the way to the bottom, where I waited for my partner with an utterly stupid grin plastered all over my face.
Why did you choose this product?
Luke H. When Blizzard announced they were releasing a new line of touring skis, I was very eager to try them out. I had spent years touring on the very capable Zero-G 105, and I have lots of fond memories of that ski, but I had reached a point in my skiing where I no longer wanted to be held back by the limitations of my touring ski. Instead, I wanted a ski that could competently go uphill, but that would have no speed limit on the downhill. Blizzard advertised the Hustle as being a more downhill-oriented touring ski, so I couldn't wait to jump on a pair and give them a go.
What is the value for the money versus other options?
Luke H. The Hustle is hardly the most affordable option out there, but it's important to remember that touring gear is inherently expensive, which has always been a head-scratcher—the lighter your gear gets, apparently, the more expensive it gets. It is, however, quite a bit pricier than the Volkl Blaze 106, which arguably fills the same niche as the Hustle, being a hybrid ski capable of both resort skiing and touring. That being said, I would argue that the Hustle is a superior ski, and so worth the extra money. In the end, the Hustle is designed to be a dual-use ski. So instead of skiers having to buy one ski setup for resort skiing and another for touring, they can just buy the Hustle instead, and in my opinion, that is more than worth the price.
What do you love about this product?
Luke H. What I love the most about the Hustle 10 is how it performs as both a resort ski and a touring ski. For decades now, skiers had to make a choice: should I buy a heavier, damper ski that will rip inside the resort, but will be too heavy to tour with? Or should I pick a lightweight ski that I can hike with all day, but will bounce off the first piece of chunder it encounters in the resort? The Hustle goes a long toward making this dilemma obsolete, meaning that skiers can finally grab a competent pair of skis that can handle both. The days of skiers needing both a pair of resort skis and a pair of touring skis are becoming a thing of the past, and the Hustle is a highly versatile ski that can do both. And personally, being mostly a backcountry skier, I love that I can hike uphill with the Hustle, but it still allows me to ski aggressively on the way down, something I can't say for most other touring skis, which are often unpredictable and highly unstable when skied aggressively. Boy, this is a fun ski.
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