Brunswick Avalanche Urethane
15lbs
2”pin
2.8oz top

Layout:
45* by 5 by 45*
x-hole 1” past axis

Surface: 2000 Abralon

Bowler stats:
PAP: 4 7/8” right
Speed: 18ish mph
Rev Rate: 325

Lanes:
2.5 year old Pro-Anvil
Kegel Kustodian
A22 oil

   I was insanely excited when I found out that Brunswick was coming out with a urethane with a core. I still have my Groove Urethane as my spare ball and for really dry lanes. However, I needed something that would be able to handle more oil and carry better than the Groove while still having that smooth reaction that I like to see and that urethane gives me. Also, I wanted this ball to be relatively close to my new Slingshot but with a little less overall hook and a smoother arc.

   I went with this drilling to keep the core in play. Unless you have an insane amount of hand or you really want the ball to scoot, I’d say to keep the pin no further than 5” from your axis. The hole was added past my axis to open up the flare rings and to increase the overall amount of boards covered. The cover was taken to 2000 before I ever threw the ball first in order to smooth out and increase reaction.

   I’ve thrown this ball on 3 different patterns so far: my THS, Kegel Broadway, and “Cheetah”.

   On my 19.6mL, 39ft THS, my best reaction with the Avalanche Urethane came from a laydown of 13, out to 8 at the breakpoint. Even with the strong drilling and surface change, this ball still reacted stronger than what I expected it to. In the past when I’ve seen players with similar ball roll throw other urethane, their ball reaction just seems to be that it just dies on the backend and doesn’t hit hard at all (One thing that comes to mind is the strike that just “parts the sea”). This ball does not react like any other urethane ball that I’ve seen go down the lane. Aside from the smooth ball roll, going down the lane I doubt that many could pick out that this ball is indeed a urethane ball. The strong drilling and surface allowed me to play a small swing that got back to the pocket with plenty of angle to carry all ten. Most importantly, the Avalanche Urethane was strong all the way through the pin deck. On the same THS, my Groove Urethane was best playing up 7 so it could stay in the dry that it needed to get back to the pocket. The Groove Urethane is polished with the pin in my palm. It was able to get back to the pocket from this line but the carry wasn’t even close to what I had with the Avalanche Urethane. The Groove Urethane left its fair share of weak tens. My Slingshot (drilled 4” pin down at 4000 abralon) worked best on this THS (with the same speed and rev rate) with a laydown of 16 out to 8. The Slingshot gave a more “typical reactive reaction” with more overall skid and most of its hook on the backend. The Slingshot didn’t seem have as much room and hit as the Avalanche Urethane from that angle on this pattern.

   The Avalanche Urethane on Boardwalk gave me control and room that I didn’t have with any other ball. The best reaction came from a laydown of 8 with a breakpoint of 7 or 8. I had one board more on either side of that as miss room. Like with the THS, the Avalanche Urethane also gave me the best carry percentage than any other ball in the bag. The Slingshot was once again 3 boards stronger overall with more backend. I didn’t have a bad look with the Slingshot, but the smooth arc of the Avalanche Urethane and its continuous motion gave the best look as compared to the stronger backend read of the Slingshot.

   On the “Cheetah”, the Avalanche Urethane also gave the best overall reaction. I use quotations because when I bowled on this pattern, it was 85 degrees in the bowling center so the oil just kind of spread out everywhere. So basically it played about 3 feet longer with less bank off of the gutter. The Avalanche Urethane gave me a look unlike any other ball in my bag. Due to conditions, I threw the Avalanche Urethane going from a laydown of 1 or 2 to a breakpoint of 2 or 3. Normally, I don’t like to point the ball but apparently it was a good idea. The smooth arc made this ball the most controlling out of everything in the bag. Despite the pattern not being ideal, I still had a enough of a bank off the edge to get back to the pocket. Everything else was too skid/flip for this interesting condition. The Slingshot wanted to play more of a swing but the pattern wouldn’t allow it. The only look with that was to speed up just a little and throw it up 5, but the temperature’s effect on the pattern just wouldn’t have it. The other thing was to amp my speed up even more, switch to my Evil Siege, and throw up the Avalanche Urethane line. This was a better choice than the Slingshot because it would start up a little earlier for a better midlane read and would react off of the edge. However, unlike the Urethane, if I pulled it hardly at all it would jump through the headpin or worse. With the same type of miss, the Avalanche Urethane would hold longer and leave a makeable 4 pin or the like.

   As I’ve said before, the Avalanche Urethane gives me the look of urethane I want with the hit of a top of the line reactive piece. With the surface change and stronger layout, I’ve turned a dry lane only ball into one that works even on medium conditions without giving me an over/under type ball motion. Whether you’re looking for a dry lane ball or a ball with a consistent read of the entire lane for medium conditions or sport patterns, I highly suggest the Avalanche Urethane to fill that spot in your bag. Get the forgiving ball motion of a urethane cover with one of the most successful cores in the business.

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Brunswick Advisory Staff

Jared Wolf
Jonesboro, AR
www.bowlingchat.net

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation.

Brunswick's newest affordable performance ball is the Avalanche Urethane. The Avalanche uses a pearl retro Urethane coverstock. This cover generates extra length and a very predictable ball motion. This Avalanche is designed for lighter amounts of oil and a straighter line to the pocket. As in all the Avalanches so far this ball also uses the successful Teal Rhino Pro core which has a simple light bulb shape.

I was looking forward to drilling this ball ever since I heard it was being released. I decided to use one of my favorite layout 45X4 1/2X70 with a P3 hole. This drilling allowed me to move right and square up my line to the pocket. I was able to stay right up against the track area during the entire set. I will say it was a little touchy at the start (not really designed for this) but the performance only got better as the night progressed. This ball will work very well on short and light volume patterns. The Urethane Avalanche will be a fine addition to my tournament arsenal as it would be for anybody that chooses to drill one up.

If you need something for the dry, this is it. The pearlized cover moves strong on the backend of the lane. In fact, the backend move reminds me more of resin than urethane. The ball goes down the lane effortlessly and makes a strong move in the friction. If you are getting too much backend, just bring the surface down to about one or two thousand without polish. This is an extremely versatile urethane ball that actually gives you two very different looks with a simple 3 minute surface tweak. Thanks a lot for the excellent equipment Brunswick!
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Brunswick Junkie

I drilled this ball with the dual angle layout: 45* x 3-7/8" x 75*, which placed the pin below my ring finger, I place a weight hole in the P3 location! For me this ball is stronger than I anticipated and the break point actually flips more than I thought it would. I bowled league and the shot blew out and I started with the CS 4.5 with the pin above the bridge and it had way to much backend. I went with a pin down Evil Siege and it became to much. I went to a white pin Smokin Inferno and had a decent look, but still had to really watch ball speed to keep the ball from crossing over. I decided to try the Avalanche Urethane and I moved five boards right thinking it would be weaker and it crossed over. I ended up playing the lane the same with the AU as I was playing with the SI, but it didn't bounce near as hard off the friction!! The carry was better than I thought playing that deep, feet at 30 playing between 3rd and 4th arrow out to the 10 board. Very impressive ball and I'm going to play on a fresh shot to see how it performs!!! Another great ball from the people at Brunswick!!!!
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"Train a child up in the way they should go and when they are old they will "Get MOTIVated, and not turn from it and become a bowling VISIONARY who sees a striking future.
Bruce Campbell
USBC Bronze Certified Coach
IBPSIA Certified Technician
Originator of the -35deg x 25 leverage drilling!
http://www.motivbowling.com/products/2/
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http://visionarybowling.com/?cat=4

Avalanche Urethane

Layout: 40x4x50, hole on PAP

Ball Speed: ~20 mph

Rev Rate: 400

Wow, this ball should be named the Lifesaver. I have had a few opportunities to throw this ball, and it has saved my rear quite a few times.

I first threw this ball on the 33' Sydney Team USA pattern. This ball performed better than anything else I had simply because it was much more mellow. Playing from 12 out to about 2 or 3, this ball rolled off the end of the pattern instead of jumping. I will admit though, this ball still stores a good amount of energy, so on such a short pattern, I would have preffered this same ball with a little bit of surface to burn up some of that energy quicker. Otherwise, it was about the only ball in my bag that didn't cut straight left at 33 feet.

On the 34' Stockholm Team USA pattern, I had a very similar look as the 33' Sydney pattern, but they were a bit slicker downlane which resulted in the ball reacting a little smoother off the end of the pattern. Still, this ball was about 6-8 boards weaker than my Avalanche Blk/Grn and about 4-6 boards weaker than my Slingshot.

On the 45' Route 66 pattern, I brought this ball into play after 10 games of tournament play (trios). Sliding in front of the left gutter, targeting 5th arrow, I was able to throw this ball straight at the extremely fried track area, and because of it's relatively smooth downlane reaction, the ball was able to roll off the friction without overreacting. It gave me a look no other ball in my bag could even think of emulating. It truly saved the day as I fired off 565 for the last two games to net a good chunk of cash.

If you are a tournament bowler, you NEED to put this ball in your bag.
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Doug Morton
Xclusive Pro Shop - Anchorage, Alaska

Brunswick Pro Shop Staff

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation.

Right Handed
16.5 MPH
PAP 4 1/2 X 3/8 up
Cranker

First off, I must say this is my favorite line of Brunswick bowling balls.  The Avalanche Urethane is very smooth with stronger than you would think back end reaction. I've found it can be used on just about any lane condition.  

I used it almost exclusively in a recent tournament for 22 games on the chameleon pattern. Switching releases and speeds throughout the day, I started out around 8 board and ended up lofting the gutter caps towards the end. It gave me a consistent look no matter where I was on the lane.  I would have switched to my 4.5 if I would have had it along.

This is a must have for everyone.
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Brunswick Staff Member
Bowling Innovations ProShop

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation!

15 LB Pin above and to the right of the ring finger OOB finish

I prefer to play down and in but that is usually impossible at the house I bowl at during the winter because it has synthetic on the front third and old wood on the back with a shorter pattern so there is always a big backend. I have been having trouble consistently hitting the pocket this year going out so I decided to try one of the new Urethane balls.

I was thinking of the Grenade or Natural but my local pro shop guy talked me into the Avalanche Urethane and Im glad he did. My average is usually in the high 170's low 180's at this house but Ive been averaging 218 since I started using this ball full time raising my average to 191. Last three weeks my series have been 626, 691 and 655.

I cant say enough about this ball. It lets me play straight up the 5 board to start with a nice smooth roll to the pocket then move a board left and out a board or two for the third game. I can also use this ball for all my spares so I no longer need to carry my Maxim for ten pins.

The ball is speed sensitive however and isnt too forgiving if you miss your mark too much but if you can consistently hit your mark this ball will find the pocket.