How fleeting is stardom, how swiftly the limelight fades. It was only two years ago that the Völkl 90EIGHT was injected with new life by 3D.Glass, which this pundit declaimed as the most clever product upgrade of the year. Then along came the M5 Mantra and the 90EIGHT lost popularity like a close talker with bad breath.
The problem with this fall from grace is that the two skis are quite different, despite having similar sidecuts and baselines, which would normally suggest some overlap in their behavioral profile. But their signature construction features are from two different worlds that have circled each other in the ski universe for decades: a metal laminate, traditionally the province of GS and speed event skis, versus a fiberglass torsion box, once upon a time the paradigm of race slalom design.
When it comes to demolishing crud, the M5 is more of a bulldozer and the 90EIGHT more like a crate of grenades. The lighter and peppier 90EIGHT is more inclined to glide over broken terrain, while the carving power of the M5 wants to dive into it. Jack Walzer of Jan’s has the 90EIGHT pegged as “fun, playful, great in soft snow ski and very lively.” If you plan on using your new All-Mountain West skis primarily off-trail, the 90EIGHT is probably the superior tool.
Not since the first Cochise rolled off the production line some eight years ago has there been a Big Mountain ski like the new Völkl Mantra 102. You can feel the power percolating under the hood before you have it out of first gear. Even though it’s “only” 102mm underfoot, it feels more substantial. At slow speeds, its triple-radius sidecut (long-short-long) encourages the Mantra 102 to stay close to the fall line so it can pick up enough inertia to show its other moves.
Once you’ve shown it you care by injecting speed into its veins, the Mantra 102 becomes more compliant. Even though it’s double rockered, its Titanal Frame design, which puts more mass around the tip and tail, keeps nearly the full length of the ski engaged. While not exactly nimble – its lowest score is for short turns – it doesn’t have to be, for whatever lies in its path better get out of its way or face extinction.
As I noted on my test card, “The ends are a bit loose but otherwise its phenomenal security makes you feel as powerful as King Kong, like you can drive through anything. I would hate to be a pile of frozen snow between me and the bottom; the last thing it will ever see is the Völkl logo bearing down on it.”
The Völkl 100EIGHT grew up in a crowded neighborhood. Not only did it have to compete for attention with the well-established V-Werks Katana (112mm), there was also the One (116mm), Two (124mm), Confession (117mm) and Bash (116), all vying for the affections of the powder skier. Now it has the Mantra 102 muscling into its territory. Where does the 100EIGHT fit into this murderers’ row of off-piste behemoths?
The last time we skied the 100EIGHT and the V-Werks Katana – its closest relative in the Völkl line – side-by-side, the differences in their personalities were striking. The Katana felt lighter in the hand and eager to carve a continuous arc that never lost connection, even on hard snow. The 100EIGHT felt more powerful at a lower edge angle, more comfortable in loose snow and, if given a stab of pressure, will come right off the snow between turns.
It might sound odd, if not outright untrue, to ascribe liveliness to a ski with zero camber in its baseline, but fiberglass will always spring back to its molded position regardless of whether it’s arched or not. It’s the extra zip created by compressing the glass box around its core that gives the 100EIGHT its distinctive blend of stability in the turn and energy coming out of it.
The Völkl Yumi is what we in the retail trade refer to a “step-up” ski. It isn’t a top-of-the-line charger but neither is it as frail as fettuccine, like so many entry-level package skis. It’s called a step-up ski because it’s bound to be an improvement over whatever is serving this skier at the moment, be a rental ski, a hand-me-down, a buying mistake or something fished out of a bargain bin at a ski swap.
As for where this first-new-ski buyer is stepping to, the Yumi leaves that entirely up to her. Equipped with an all-wood core and partial topsheet of Titanal, the Yumi has the intestinal fortitude to cope with life on groomers, where its gift for short-radius turns encourages intermediates to get their act together. At 84mm underfoot, the Yumi is fat for a Frontside ski, so it can manage its business in a foot of fluff without becoming verklemmt.
