The No. 1 ski in the women’s Mixed Snow East category doesn’t break the bank. As we wrote in the Buyer’s Guide: The Black Pearl may be named after a bull—the theme of Blizzard’s Free Mountain line—but it ran like a thoroughbred. On groomed snow, sweeping GS turns were its forte, while its tip-and-tail rocker profile was smear-friendly off the trail. “For ladies who aren’t afraid to put their purse down,” said one Colorado tester. The Black Pearl is a narrower one-ski-quiver with attitude.
