Stormrider 85 Motion
Secret 92
The Völkl Secret 92 has sufficient surface area to qualify as an off-trail specialist, but temperamentally she’s a carving kind of gal. Far from being a bit loosey-goosey in the tip, like many skis meant to travel off-piste, the Secret 92 is built to keep its slightly rockered tips and tails from inhibiting the prime directive: stay connected.
Maybe the Secret 92’s little secret is that she would rather be carving. With a 16m-sidecut radius in a 163cm, short turns are easily summoned with a modest application of edge angle. Because the Secret 92 craves snow contact, it’s good at following the fragmented terrain found in today’s moguls. Should the off-piste beckon, the Secret 92 can take its carving tools off-trail and let its broad beam take care of the occasional need to drift.
Kendo 88
Unless you were on the moon last year, you know the M5 Mantra and its Titanal Frame design had a wildly successful debut. What’s all this Mantra mention got to do with the new Kendo 88? The new kid has finally stepped out of its sibling’s shadow. In the most hotly contested category, All-Mountain East, that’s loaded with star products, the Kendo 88 earned the highest score for every Power attribute as well as for Finesse/Power balance, the catchall criterion for overall excellence.
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.
Jim Schaffner of Start Haus knew the new Kendo 88 was a winner from the first turn. “Let me begin by saying, this ski is going to end up being a category killer. A very well-balanced ski, easy to stay centered on and get pressure to the tip. A quick, lively ski that really held in the turn.”
Kenja 88
The Kenja is the grand dame of the women’s market, and over the years she’s had more facelifts than Joan Rivers to keep her current. But none of her previous makeovers were quite as extensive – or as successful – at reinvigorating the old gal with the energy of youth as the new Kenja 88. In a word, wow.
The application of Titanal Frame technology is the game changer. By breaking the top sheet of Titanal into 3 pieces, the metal is distributed where it can do the most good, and the fiberglass beneath it can breathe. The engagement of the glass layer during the turn is what creates the rebound energy that differentiates this Kenja from all who came before.
But the Kenja 88 didn’t bring just one gift to this party; its sidecut has been modified into triple-radius affair – Völkl calls it 3D Radius Sidecut – that mimics a geometry more commonly found in Technical skis. If you lay it over until the center radius is engaged, you’ll get a tidy short turn but ride it close to the fall line and the long-radius tip and tail sections take control over trajectory. An extra patch of shock-damping carbon in the shovel helps reduce shimmy in sketchy snow.