2023 Blizzard Hustle 9

New for 2023, the Blizzard Hustle 9 is a hybrid ski that blends the resort and the backcountry seamlessly. While compared to the Hustle 10 and 11, the 9 is likely the one best-suited for a touring application, it still has some good resort charm built in. Constructed with Blizzard’s Trueblend Freeride wood core consisting of 8 beech, 3 poplar, and 5 paulownia stringers, the skis have a fun and energetic build to start. Instead of the titanal D.R.T. laminate found in Rustler, Hustle gets a carbon laminate. Similarly to the titanal sheet, the carbon ends where the rocker begins, offering playful and floaty tips and tails to go along with strong underfoot grip and a stable shovel and tail. It’s a smart way of building a ski, and like we’ve seen from Rustler over the years, this method is tried and true, allowing skiers to get the best performance in a sophisticated manner. In the 180 cm length, we’re getting down to about 1700 grams per ski, so while that’s still heavier than our ~1500 gram mark for touring skis, it’s still lighter than Rustler 9 for sure. Since it follows the same footprint as Rustler 9, we’re getting a 17-meter turn radius in the 180, so these things do like to be up on edge. Whether you tour exclusively with a tech binding and a light weight boot or slap a heavy alpine binder on it and use your race boots is irrelevant. The 2023 Blizzard Hustle 9 has more versatility and applications to it than almost anything out there, and that’s the best part of it by far.

Brad Schauerman skied the 180 and called it just right. He scored top marks of 4 out of 5 for flotation, quickness, maneuverability, and playfulness. Overall impression, versatility, torsional stiffness, edge hold forgiveness, and stability all got 3’s. “These skis were very light and playful, maybe too light for the resort. It definitely felt more like being on a light weight touring ski than the Enforcer Unlimiteds did. That being said it still skied fairly well on the groomers and was capable of holding an edge and laying over nice turns just felt a little chintzy. Definitely not what I'd want for a one ski quiver but would make a good touring ski.” Right off the bat, we get some feedback on the 9 that we didn’t get for either the 10 or 11, and that’s interesting, as that was our first impression as well—the 9 is a different ski than 10 or 11 in a variety of manners. Chris McClelland’s 180 felt a little short, but he gave a top score of 5 out of 5 for playfulness, with 4’s for overall impression, versatility, quickness, maneuverability, and flotation. Stability, forgiveness, torsional stiffness, and edge hold were a bit lower with 3’s. “The Hustle 9 was much stiffer than I first thought and could hold a fair amount of speed before chattering and losing stability. The ski felt okay on fast groomers and had some great response when you pushed it into a turn, but felt more at home in moguls and off-piste terrain. This is definitely a more touring focused platform than the Rustler 9’s, but still has a ton of performance to offer. This would be a great ski for someone looking to throw a shift binding on and split time between the resort and backcountry.”

Hans von Briesen skied the 180 and noted it felt accurate, but he’s “very curious about the 188 but this felt really good!” He gave it a 5 for playfulness and 4’s for overall impression, quickness, maneuverability, forgiveness, torsional stiffness, edge hold, and versatility. Hans notes that the Hustle 9 is “Really easy to ski, not just an easy ski though. It has the ability to go pretty hard and be dynamic through the entire range of the ski. Large radius to tight snappy slalom turns with arcs, skids and presses in between. This one made me reapply my socks.” Lots of movement, it sounds like! Also on the 180 John McIntosh, like Hans, found the length to be good, but was curious about the 188. He scored it 4’s out of 5 for quickness, maneuverability, playfulness, and forgiveness with all other scores in the 3-range. John notes that since “Owning the Rustler 9 in a 180cm length, I was interested in trying the new Hustle 9. I found it to be a bit too light for resort skiing. It would be a great ski for an intermediate resort skier that wanted to try some touring as well.” Another comment and note on touring with this ski, which we did not see with either the Hustle 10 or 11.

From our testers, as well as our own experience, the weight and shape of the Hustle 9 puts it more squarely in the touring conversation. Whether you put an alpine, hybrid, or pin tech binding on these skis, the light weight and friendly nature will have you laying down attractive tracks on a variety of conditions and terrain.