OVERVIEW
Völkl didn’t actually invent the concept of quality control, but denizens of our little corner of the universe can be forgiven for thinking so. They set the standard for base finish for so long, if someone gave a trophy for the best QC they’d have to name it the Völkl Prize. Yet this noteworthy achievement probably plays only a minor role in why skiers who buy Völkls never buy just one pair; instead, they become Völkl junkies. Not that they become dissolute, as it takes an athlete to happily co-exist with a Völkl, but they do become dependent. Mama, don’t take my Mantras (or Auras) away!
During Völkl’s ascension to market preeminence, they earned a reputation as powerful, technical skis with a small sweet spot and an unslakable thirst for speed. Völkl came to regard their experts-only-need-apply reputation as a stigma that limited their sales potential, so they set in motion a long-term plan to change how the brand was perceived by changing, sometimes radically, how they made skis.
The trick in this transformation was how to wean their public off their ultra-traditional, thick, fully cambered skis without losing their established base among the sport’s elite. They began by tampering with the Gotama, an off-trail ski that served as a logical place to excise an Old School, arched baseline and substitute a fully rockered baseline.
Once the new Gotama with the flat baseline was accepted, Völkl applied the same technique with their Frontside carvers, with the same result: the RTM 84 won instant adherents. With each passing season another venerable model passed through the modernization machinery.
The process finally wrapped up last year, as the Kendo and Kenja were brought into the New Age fold with double rockered baselines with just a remnant of camber underfoot. The power that was once the exclusive province of highly skilled athletes is now accessible to the nearly skilled, as well.
The 2017 Season
Last season Volkl invested its R&D Euros in extending the 3D.Ridge design to its RTM family and All-Mountain newcomers, 100EIGHT and 90EIGHT. This year Volkl turned over their women’s Frontside family, retiring the Essenza series and ushering in the 6-model Flair collection. Each ski/binding system has a different shape, construction and price point spanning the full range of recreational abilities.
Female freeriders have flocked to Völkl’s Kenja and Aura for many years, and rightly so, as their metal/wood construction doesn’t condescend. The new 90EIGHT W uses the 3D.Ridge construction to create a lighter, softer off-trail option for the fairer sex.
The only movement among men’s models was a big one, literally. The new Confession fills a void once occupied by the Kuro, and while the Confession isn’t quite the aircraft carrier the Kuro was (132mm underfoot), it’s still battleship wide (117mm) and built for conquest, not coddling. Significantly beefier than the V-Werks Katana and not as surfy as the fully rockered One and Two, the Confession retains enough camber underfoot to attack the fall line head-on. Ill-suited to the weak or insecure, the Confession is built for today’s Über-mensch.