Last season Völkl unveiled the fifth generation of its legendary Mantra, the M5. The Mantra M5 was created to win back the experts who once formed the backbone of the brand’s market support. The key to its success was a new way of deploying Titanal, breaking the top...
It’s unusual for any brand to overhaul a product family’s design two years in a row, and the various modifications Salomon made to its QST series this year I would classify as major. For starters, it jiggered the deployment of carbon, flax and basalt as introduced in...
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. It set the standard for base finish for so long, if someone gave a trophy for the best QC they’d have to name it...
Overview Our spider sense tingles when we hear the term “handmade” applied to skis, as the implication is that such slats will receive extraordinary care in manufacture no mass-produced ski can hope to receive. One reason we look sideways at the “handmade” qualifier...
Seven years ago, Tecnica was at a point in its evolution where it had to change. The brand still had market mojo, but the line was due for an upgrade. Once a brand decides it needs new molds, all ideas are on the table until eliminated in the R&D cage match that...
