The Black Pearl line as a whole has been synonymous with pure and true all-mountain skiing for a long time now, and the 2024 Pearl 82 continues that tradition. There are so many great skis out there that are both useful and fun, but this 82 seems to always be at the forefront of this discussion. By blending sharp on-trail characteristics with playful off-piste performance, the Black Pearl 82 solidifies itself as a crisp performer with a big range of potential. This is one of those skis that, if all ski companies got together and decided to make one ski for everyone, would be a great option. Equally at home both on and off-trail, the Black Pearl 82 is an easy ski to ski and is accessible for intermediates and progressing skiers, while also having a high-performance ceiling that keeps this thing interesting for advanced and expert skiers.

The big thing with the Black Pearl 82 is the use of Blizzard’s sophisticated Trueblend wood core. In this ski, they use the all-mountain version of the core consisting of a blend of poplar and beech stringers of varying lengths. For the Pearl 82, this means that they use 7 beech stringers and 3 poplar stringers in the core. The denser beech is found in one full length stringer along the central spine for power and vibration damping, while the other six are located along the sides, shrinking in length as they get closer to the edges. The poplar takes up more room in the ski, using more of a macroblock format and wider zones overall. Underfoot, the ski gets a titanal layer that goes edge to edge and provides good torsional stiffness and edge grip to go along with a smooth and damp ride. In the 159, the ski sits on the scale at 1545 grams—light enough to be agile while heavy enough to remain stable and powerful.

When it comes to shape and profile, this ski is a lot more traditional in nature. We get a long camber profile with tip and tail rocker, although the tail is quite flat. This gives the Black Pearl 82 more of a front side mentality in that it completes turns with pop and power. In any type of softer snow, it cuts through the crud and chop easily, giving the ski a distinctive directional nature. It’s a fairly short-turning ski as well, with that 159 creating a 12.5-meter turn radius, putting it right in the carvy side of the spectrum. As such, the Pearl 82 does seem to wander to the narrow side of all-mountain, almost bordering on true frontside. Since it’s a narrower version of wider models in the Pearl line, it still has that versatile heritage, but anyone who’s skied it has noted that it’s a very accomplished on-piste ski that is quite comfortable in a carved turn.

When it comes to shape and profile, this ski is a lot more traditional in nature. We get a long camber profile with tip and tail rocker, although the tail is quite flat. This gives the Black Pearl 82 more of a front side mentality in that it completes turns with pop and power. In any type of softer snow, it cuts through the crud and chop easily, giving the ski a distinctive directional nature. It’s a fairly short-turning ski as well, with that 159 creating a 12.5-meter turn radius, putting it right in the carvy side of the spectrum. As such, the Pearl 82 does seem to wander to the narrow side of all-mountain, almost bordering on true frontside. Since it’s a narrower version of wider models in the Pearl line, it still has that versatile heritage, but anyone who’s skied it has noted that it’s a very accomplished on-piste ski that is quite comfortable in a carved turn.