M5 Mantra
Let the word go out across the land: the Mantra is back! The new M5 Mantra actually isn’t a replica of an older, cambered version revered by so many of the Volkl faithful; it has an identity all its own. The M5’s unique construction restores the cambered baseline and tighter waistline of earlier Mantras, but how its various components are assembled that set the fifth generation Mantra apart from its antecedents. Among all the things the new Mantra does better than the model it replaces – tighter turn entry, better edge grip on hard snow, a higher speed range – perhaps the most exciting is rebound, an end-of-turn kick in the pants that launches the skier out of the old turn and across the fall line. It’s a quality a lot of modern all-mountain skis are lacking and one the M5 Mantra glorifies.
90 Eight
When Völkl added 3.D Glass to the 90 Eight (and several other models) last season, it was a game changer. What had been a fairly docile off-trail specialist turned into a peppy all-terrain model that could handle its business on hardpack. The reason 3D.Glass made such a resounding impact lies in the way this bottom layer of fiberglass runs up and over the sidewall in the ski’s midsection, creating in essence the bottom half of a torsion box that marries up with the 3D.Ridge glass on top. By converting a laminate construction to a de facto torsion box, the 90 Eight became a firecracker off the edge, with better grip in all conditions.
RTM 81
Over the past few seasons Völkl has been extending its 3D.Ridge design to encompass almost all of its RTM, All-Mountain and Big Mountain collections. Last year, Völkl significantly upgraded what is now its signature design with the addition of 3D.Glass. An added base layer of prepreg fiberglass hardly sounds newsworthy, but its impact can scarcely be over-stated. The special sauce in 3D.Glass consists of flaps in its center section that fold up and over the sidewall, interlocking the base with the rest of the 3D.Ridge. For an on-trail ski like the RTM 81, 3D.Glass is transformative. When the RTM 81’s long front and rear rocker blend with the camber zone underfoot as the ski is flexed, the security on edge is first rate.
Confession
If you live at the base of a big western mountain and still possess the strength and stamina of youth, you might want to make the Völkl Confession a daily ritual. Lord knows it has the strength to lay down rails on hardpack, thanks to a top sheet of Titanal that doesn’t run the full length of the ski because it doesn’t have to. The Confession dominates just fine as is, aided by a camber pocket underfoot that instills life into this powder-devouring glutton.