Video Transcript

How's it going? My name is Leo and I am a curated.com ski expert, coming to you live from my home here in Colorado, where I've been in the industry for over 10 years. Today, I'm going to give you a side-by-side comparison of two skis, the Blizzard Rustler 10 and the Faction Mana 2. I'm going to tell you how these skis are similar, how they're different, what they're good for, what they're less good at, and why they might be the right next ski for you.

Blizzard Rustler 10 Skis

So let's go ahead and dive in with the Blizzard Rustler 10 here, which is a 102 underfoot ski. We talked about that waist width a lot to understand how quickly it goes to edge to edge, as well as how well it floats in soft snow. A 102 underfoot is very versatile all mountain, specifically here in the west. It's great for that skier who's going to ski everything from blues to blacks, to trees, to moguls, to deep powder, and do it all on one ski. This ski is unique. It's got a partial sheet of metal in it, which if you zoom in on it, you can see that cut away where the metal ends in the tip and the tail. What that does for this ski is it gives it a really strong bite underfoot. So when you're going down a hardpack room, you can really hold a nice edge but it keeps the tips and the tails lightweight, floaty, and easy to swing.

It's got a good amount of rocker tip and tail as well. If you look at it from the side, you can see how much that tip and tail curl away from the snow. So that gives it a really pivoty and playful personality to it. This ski is really ideal for the advanced skier. It is a little stiffer, it is a little hard charging. So this is really good for that advanced skier and that expert skier who just wants something a little bit more on the playful side than a traditional square-cut ski. Overall, it's something I'd ski here in Colorado any day of the week in any condition and if I only had one pair of skis, I'd be perfectly happy on this. However, it's not going to excel specifically for skiing just the groomers. If you are spending more time on the groomers, more like a 70/30 percent versus 50/50 on groomers off groomers, this ski might not be great for you.

Faction Mana 2 Skis

Let's jump over here to the Faction Mana 2, which is a ski I actually own and really enjoy. This ski is a little different than the Blizzard. It doesn't have any metal in it, instead, it's got a wood core with a rubber carbon dampener in it that helps keep it a bit more stable on that harder pack terrain. But this ski really excels in soft snow. It really excels in off-piste like moguls, like trees, and powder. Also, 102 underfoot but it's a little soft for my taste for groomer specific skiing, this is not the ski I'm going to take out on the hardest pack days.

However, this ski being rockered in both the tip and the tail, similar to the Blizzard, but a little bit more of a true twin. This ski is going to do really well if you also want to get into the park and add a little freestyle to your personality. Both of these skis are going to be able to jump off side hits pretty well. They're both going to be able to ski backwards pretty well but the Mana is the one that's really going to excel. If you want to hit or throw a spin, land a trick and switch or get up on some rails, the Blizzard is not going to do that quite as well. This ski is going to find its limits on the hardest-pack snow and at the fastest speeds on super groomer hardpack days. These are not the ones I'd like to pick, but outside of that for moguls, for trees, for softer snow days, I really, really enjoy them.

Similarities and Differences

Which one's going to be the best for you? That's a great question. It's going to depend a little bit on who you are and what your goals are. So talk to me right here on curated.com and I'll help you into the best one for you.

Comparison Table