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2022 Blossom AM77

mulva28

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Actually the AM77 looks beautiful, better than the above graphic indicates. The blue is really vibrant and the glossy top sheets are super durable so they will stay looking nice. Sadly, I haven’t been able to use mine more than a run or two due to the dumps of fresh snow we keep getting. View attachment 153918
I like the new graphics but it took a few days initially. After seeing recent user pics of the new ones.... I WANT NOW!!!
 

Philpug

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Long term update: @Tricia and I had a free day to ski Sun Valley this week and kinda expected a groomer zoomer day to the the Siderals (AM77) shine but it was not to the case, we received 6-8" over night, not the conditions that you woudl grab the AM77 for. I have said more than once, it wasn't too long ago that 77mm underfoot was a powder ski, remember the Volkl SnowRanger? Well, while the Sideral would not have been our first choice today it was our only choice so we made do and the Blossom did not disappoint

Sun Valley was socked in a cloud with snow comign down so it was a ski by braille kind of day and the Sideral held its own, as good as any 77 mm ski could be expected. The red sled with it's Vist Speedlock ate up the cut up snow like John Pinnette at an all you can eat buffet. Nothing fazes this ski. I know there have been quite a few readers and active contributors here that have been extremely satisfied with their AM77's.
 
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tromano

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Bought Whiteouts a couple years ago. Due to bad a bad snow year I Only had a few days on the whiteouts last season. Thought they were good but not great. Decided to remount with the vist plate in hopes of either loving them or being able sell easier. Glad I did. Huge difference on how it skis. More carvy. Love them now. These in a 182 really rip. Great in moguls too.
 
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BTaylor

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I got AM77s during Blossom's pre-season deal on SkiTalk and mounted them with Look Pivots, rather than Vist Speedlocks. I have Stockli AX for pure carving days and I wanted more versaltility than the AXs offer for soft and deeper conditions. Anyway, I just like the low stack height and flex feel of Pivots and have them on several other skis.

We got about 6" of freshies this afternoon at Breck on top of a soft base. I was with my Saturday Ski Club group and a favorite Level 3 instructor/examiner, most of the day spent on bump runs on Peak 8 and 9. Although I had by far the narrowest waist ski in the group today, the Blossoms were a hoot in these soft moguls: side slipping, quick pivot turns, brushed carves, the AM77s were a dream. Not just for carving!
 

Living Proof

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Has anyone skied them on the east coast blue ice? That kind of feedback would be nice.
My east coast home is Blue Mt. so I know something about blue ice. For many years, I owned the Hart Pulse, a 78 made by Blossom, and very similar to the new AM 77. On days when very hard snow prevailed at Blue, I used my Fischer SL's, however, I switched between the SL's and Blossoms regularly, and spent many days on Blossom on very hard snow, always pleased with their performance. I've always believed that there is magic in 78ish waist skis, they provide a lot of versatility plus performance. I took my Blossom out west on many trips, and they shined on days when snow was old. I remember many days when others bitched about their wide skis and harder snow, I just smiled and let the Blossoms just do their thing. So, yeah, they will do fine on hard snow, although the skill of the driver plays a major factor.
I'd buy the AM 77 without any fears!
A quick edit regarding length. I am 6 ft, 190 and I chose the 170. My ski style favors a more narrow turning radius for faster edge changes and quicker turns. I never hit a speed limit with that length. Others may choose the 178 for higher speeds, that was more ski than I needed.
 
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Uncle-A

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My east coast home is Blue Mt. so I know something about blue ice. For many years, I owned the Hart Pulse, a 78 made by Blossom, and very similar to the new AM 77. On days when very hard snow prevailed at Blue, I used my Fischer SL's, however, I switched between the SL's and Blossoms regularly, and spent many days on Blossom on very hard snow, always pleased with their performance. I've always believed that there is magic in 78ish waist skis, they provide a lot of versatility plus performance. I took my Blossom out west on many trips, and they shined on days when snow was old. I remember many days when others bitched about their wide skis and harder snow, I just smiled and let the Blossoms just do their thing. So, yeah, they will do fine on hard snow, although the skill of the driver plays a major factor.
I'd buy the AM 77 without any fears!
A quick edit regarding length. I am 6 ft, 190 and I chose the 170. My ski style favors a more narrow turning radius for faster edge changes and quicker turns. I never hit a speed limit with that length. Others may choose the 178 for higher speeds, that was more ski than I needed.
Thanks, that is a good review. The quick edit was also helpful because I am 6' 1" and 185 also would like a 170.
 

Philpug

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Long term update: There is no trying to hide that this is one of our favorite skis, hell we like it so much that we had @Blossom Skis make SkiTalk a custom version with their Vist Speedlock Pro plate. Today I got to spend some time on the AM77 in the consumer graphic black and blue motif. This is part of our long term test fleet and I wanted to do a comparison with our Sideral and to see what the difference by comparing the Speedlock PRO that is on our Sideral and the Speedcom that is Blossom's standard system binding which is probably on par with most other two piece options other than say a Pivot.

The first thing I noticed between the Speedlock Pro and the Speedcom (and other bindings) is the weight of the Speedlock. That weight obviously has some pluses and minuses, which I also talk about in my Long term update of the Numero Uno N*1 RC. the weight of the Speedlok provides some connection to the snow and a more solid feel, but with that there is a cost difference and that is a bit of brightness and quickness from the AM77. I don't want this do come across that the AM77 (or the other Blossoms) need the Speedlock, no, you still have that quietness and smoothness that the brand has earned a reputation for, it is just what you want out of the ski and neither way is wrong.
 
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Andy Mink

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Long term update: I spent a glorious sunny day at Mt. Rose on my personal AM77/Siderals in a 177 with the Vist Speedlock Pro plate. Conditions at Rose have been pretty consistent after the big December dump: chalky with wind effect, especially in the trees, groomers with sugar and scraped pow, and bumps of various conditions. The Blossoms just handle everything with aplomb. I have a hard time remembering a ski that I enjoy so much on the groomers making numerous different shaped turns, from long S turns to pretty tight C-ish turns. On the hard snow (there was one section that was insanely hard chalk, like the kind that doesn't scrape off) I was very pleased with the bite, even with a 1/2 edge. Looking at my line from the lift I could see where the ski was chattering in the turn but I never felt like it was going to let go. Just a fun, easy ski that will say, "Is that all you have" and deliver when you say OK.
 
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David Chaus

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I finally got a couple days in on my AM77’s with Speedlock Pro Light plate. It was not a glorious sunny day yesterday at Summit Central, rather it was foggy all day. Also the snow conditions have been weird and funky, after several epic snow storms at the end of December, it has been warm and rainy for several days while the mountain passes were closed due to avalanche slides, which means the ski areas were closed and slopes weren’t getting skied.

Most skiers were sticking to groomed runs, and groomed runs here get cut up pretty quickly.

So how’d the AM 77’s handle it?

In heavy deep breakable concrete off-piste, not so much. Maybe part of it is my still-recovering knee, nonethless it was difficult to initiate turns in heavy wet snow. Maybe in places with lighter snow, these can be an all-mountain ski in everything up to 4-6” of powder, but not with PNW maritime crud that’s infused with rain.

Everywhere else, very composed, easy to initiate and release turns, large, medius and short radius. Pretty much what everyone else has posted. Very confidence inspiring, which was important because with the fog there is a common tendency to ski defensively, however with the AM77’s I didn’t feel the need to hold back. With bumps, easy and compliant, just ski right through them, no adjustment needed. Uneven surfaces with ruts on cut up groomers, very composed. No chattering. Just feels planted. I haven’t been trying to go mach schnell yet due to prevailing conditions but from slow to medium to almost-mach schnell they have been effortless.

While the edge grip was excellent, I was in a clinic during which we were working on keeping the skis flat and drifting a lot, as de-edging is part of edge control. Some of the drills would have been super easy on park skis, or on my wider all-mountains with tip and tail rocker. No matter, I was easily able to control the AM77’s and engage or de-engage, grip or drift. This ski is a nice blend of energy and grip when on edge while being able to be playful and pivoty when desired.

I didn’t get the sense of “WOW” like some reviewers describe. I don’t tend to get that way. Maybe I’m not that discerning a skier. I can usually adapt to any ski. OTOH one of the best attributes of a ski to me is when you can just click in and ski, as if you’d always been on them, and the AM77 definitely has that going on.

At this point I don’t see the need to having a narrower front side oriented ski as the AM77 is “outstanding enough” for the groomers that I ski, and probably much more fun in bumps and variable conditions than a narrower ski. I haven’t had the chance to try the AM77’s off piste in the conditions I would normally be skiing, so more to report on later.

I’ll have to play with with how much they can be a daily driver for me compared to the Z90. Obviously if I know I’m sticking to skiing on the frontside, the AM77 is the obvious choice. Except, the Z90 is a frontside-shaped ski which I find is versatile off-piste and bumps. I also have a 102, which is kind of a daily driver width around here. Last year I alternated between the Z90 and 102 as the all-mountain tool for the day, and brought the 116 instead of the Z90 when it was a powder day.

Maybe I just need to close my eyes, do an “eenie-meenie-minee-mo” and just pick one of these at random. Nah, that would deny me the opportunity to obsess about which ski to use.

OK, so the takeaway is the AM77 with a Vist Speedlock plate is the perfect ski and you should just get one.
 

Tony S

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I didn’t get the sense of “WOW” like some reviewers describe.
My sense is that Blossoms are more about balance, integrity, and attention to detail than about wow. For example, I don't know of any other ski that has such a well executed top skin. In wine terms, a Blossom probably wouldn't win any tastings but would grow on you as you spent time with it though a meal.

I do wish my pair of SLs had a more absorbent base, but that's really my only quibble.

All that said, if I skied in your conditions as you describe them I would almost certainly not be on the 77 as a daily driver. That's not a criticism of the ski, which is what it is, but about my preferences in 3D snow.
 

tromano

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Another day on the whiteouts. It feels very athletic and high energy a ski that comes alive for dynamic skiing but they get balky if I cruise in a more static way, the tips are softer than other frontside skis so, I also use the tail of the ski to really get the most performance out of this one. Just squashing the grape on the cuffs of my boots isn't enough, I have to move my feet a lot on these and when I do, they really work. In moguls its a ski that really wants you to go on the attack. I ski ungroomed and moguls with more edge angle on these than any other ski and it just sort of works.
 

Andy Mink

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Not a review per se, but an endorsement. My lovely wife, aka @AKMINK, took @Tricia's SkiTalk Sideral AM77s for a spin the other day at Mt. Rose. Guess what's heading to our house? Ann says she can't describe WHY she likes them, just that she does. She used words like "smooth", "easy to turn", "fun", "likes to go fast", "I can feel the edge working", "quicker edge to edge than my Z90s", etc. Sounds to me she knows exactly why she likes them!
 

Tony S

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Not a review per se, but an endorsement. My lovely wife, aka @AKMINK, took @Tricia's SkiTalk Sideral AM77s for a spin the other day at Mt. Rose. Guess what's heading to our house? Ann says she can't describe WHY she likes them, just that she does. She used words like "smooth", "easy to turn", "fun", "likes to go fast", "I can feel the edge working", "quicker edge to edge than my Z90s", etc. Sounds to me she knows exactly why she likes them!
She's not lovely; she a ski thief! :roflmao:
 

Andy Mink

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Tricia

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Not a review per se, but an endorsement. My lovely wife, aka @AKMINK, took @Tricia's SkiTalk Sideral AM77s for a spin the other day at Mt. Rose. Guess what's heading to our house? Ann says she can't describe WHY she likes them, just that she does. She used words like "smooth", "easy to turn", "fun", "likes to go fast", "I can feel the edge working", "quicker edge to edge than my Z90s", etc. Sounds to me she knows exactly why she likes them!
And while @AKMINK was on my Sideral AM77s I couldn't catch her.
 

Tricia

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Long term update: This is a ski I don't often think about a review update because its become my personal pair of skis.

As @Philpug mentioned on January 5th, we both took these skis to Sun Valley thinking it was the perfect Sun Valley kind of ski. Much to our surpirse, we were treated with powder days. I've always said, "I'd rather be caught with a skinny ski on a powder day than a powder ski on a groomer day."

This was a test of that statement, and the AM77 held up well, cutting through chopped powder and dancing through the moguls.



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When we were trying to sort out which length I wanted in this particular ski (between the 163 and 170cm) I opted for the 170 and am thoroughly glad I did. Quick turning, stable at speed and smooth to a fault.
Though I don't ski in jeans, the AM77 is like my comfortable pair of jeans in the ski world.
 
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tromano

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Interesting
I haven't spent this much time on a 7xmm SL side cut ski since I had Metrons in 2006. So it's taken me a while to figure them out.

I think my impressions of this ski may be different because I am on a different length 182 than many others here. 176 and 170.
 

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