As predicted in this space last year, Völkl has applied the same two transformative technologies to the 2023 Kendo 88 that it had debuted in the M6 Mantra a season ago. Bear in mind that the 2022 Kendo 88 was already the highest rated Power ski in the ski world’s most competitive genre, yet the 2023 version raised the bar still higher for both its Power and, most notably, Finesse scores.
How do these lofty numbers translate to the ski experience? Here’s how veteran ski tester and renowned boot expert Jim Schaffner summed up his experience on the new Kendo 88: “This ski has an amazing range of performance. Today the snow was a combination of old, compacted snow, new wind-blown snow, and solid ice where the fresh snow was blown off. The Kendo did it all with ease. Very good grip on the hard stuff, with a silky feel on the duff.”
Dallas Goldsmith of Goldsmith’s Ski & Board – in several ways Schaffner’s physiological antipode – also attested to the new model’s new-and-improved status: “This ski has always been great, but this year’s upgrades are noticeable. The 88 category has many great skis and this is in the top three for sure.” Mark Rafferty from Peter Glenn confirmed that, “The 2023 Kendo is noticeably better [than the current version]. The 3D radius deal is real. The Kendo 88 makes fast GS turns as happily as it rips short-radius trenches. A joy to ski the entire mountain.”
The new Kendo 88’s kudos can be directly attributed to two upgrades: Tailored Titanal Frame and Tailored Carbon Tips. Tailored Titanal Frame optimizes this keystone technology by making separate parts for each size, so smaller lengths aren’t saddled with out-sized components at the tip and tail. Tailored Carbon Tips liberate carbon fiber from the limited menu of options offered by prepreg laminates by stitching it into a fabric layer that can composed into any pattern the designer desires. In this instance, the carbon helps the tip to buffer shock so it stays in snow contact despite being modestly rockered. Together, the twin “Tailored” technologies make the Kendo 88 feel smoother, more balanced and more compliant overall.
Size selection has never been more important than it is today, to the degree that only one size may feel suitable for a given skier. The Kendo 88 isn’t that finicky, but behavior shifts slightly with size. For a 175-pound skier, a 177cm is short enough to make skiing moguls much easier without surrendering stability when the moguls are mercifully in short supply. Stepping up to a 184cm tilts its tendencies towards longer radius turns, but a shorter arc is always there if you want to go get it. In either length, the Kendo 88 knows how to respond to pressure, coming off the edge with an exuberance that earned it the highest score in the category for Rebound/Turn Finish.
Like all the truly great All-Mountain East skis, the 2023 Kendo 88 isn’t hard to ski. Sized appropriately, anyone can ski it. Hence, it’s anointment as a Silver Skier Selection.
One reason the current Kendo 88 is so very, very good is that it is the end product of a very long development chain. It arrived at its current excellence because it’s been built on exceptional bones. The concluding paragraphs of this review have been plucked from last year’s paean to the 2022 Kendo 88, but they apply equally well to the newest addition to the Kendo genealogy.
The Kendo 88’s built-in ability to instantly adapt to its master’s commands is a marvel. All you need to switch from a long-radius cruiser to a snappy-quick cobra is a change in edge angle and a dollop of pressure. You don’t even have to rock forward to generate a short-radius turn; you can operate all the controls from a centered stance. The skier doesn’t have to do anything special other than stay in balance, for the Kendo 88’s energy output can shift gears on the fly. If you want to make short turns, go get ‘em, they’re there for the asking. Otherwise, put it in cruise and I’ll see you at the lift.
Every ski in this genre has to be proficient off -trail, and the Kendo 88’s double-rockered baseline has no trouble heading into trees or moguls if that’s where the best skiing is. Of course, it can’t ride high on freshies like a Big Mountain behemoth, but it makes up for it with agility, zipping through potential choke points with confidence. The single most important quality an all-mountain ski can possess is total indifference to terrain selection. On this score, the Kendo 88 has no peer. It transitions from wind-affected crud to crisp corduroy as if those two conditions were the same. On hard snow, it’s so quick to the edge the skier can’t even tell it’s rockered and it’s so stable in crud you can relax, drop the reins and let the boys run.
