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Line Blade Optic 104
MSRP: $749.00
Buy Now — $749.00
LINE’S NEW METAL LAMINATE FREERIDE SKI, the Line Blade Optic 104 mixes the freestyle nature of the brand with fall line shredding ability, and the result is an everyday ski for the modern freerider. When you think Line Skis, you may naturally conjure up images of jibby twin tips and Traveling Circus video clips, but Line has always made stout and playful all-mountain skis.
“The line between freestyle and freeride is becoming increasingly blurry and we feel that this has not been adequately addressed yet,” says Peter Brigham, Line Skis’ mastermind engineer. “The collection was born out of conversations with athletes [like Jake Hopfinger] who were looking for the hard-charging ability of a metal ski and the forgiveness of a twin tip.”
Taking cues from both the Line Vision, a rockered freestyler, and the Line Blade, a groomer-oriented arc’er, the Line Blade Optic 104 is constructed with an aspen wood core, just enough of a twin tip for switch landings, and a unique metal laminate construction— “Gas Pedal Metal Overdrive.” The intricate metal build consists of a layer of Titanal that runs longitudinally but tapers near the tip and tail, increasing power and stability when you’re blasting through the runout; but it also utilizes feathered metal cutouts underfoot, a cue taken from the Blade, that increases the ski’s grip on-edge.
The Blade Optic comes in a few different widths, depending on your quiver needs, but the 104-mm-waisted model really caught our attention at Ski Test last year at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, a place where big-mountain skiing reigns. Everyone agreed in the ski’s powerful prowess and ability to handle the variety of terrain featured at the iconic Wyoming locale, with one tester noting: “How crazy—how can this ski be so insanely stable and good at carving, yet still so flexy and playful. What the f*ck?!”
As skiing has evolved, so have the skiers. Today’s freeriders want the confidence to rock a big line in the backcountry and the playfulness to hit a booter as the sun goes down.
Brigham notes, “the Blade Optic collection is designed for modern freeride skiers who want the versatility, playfulness and slashability of a twin tip with the direction stability and predictability of a metal laminate freeride ski,” explains Brigham. “[Before,] skiers had to choose between [the two]. The new Blade Optic 104 is our most fall line and hard-charging option on the table.