One of Völkl’s charming marketing quirks is their preference for keeping a name – such as Charisma – intact while making wholesale changes in the ski’s make-up.  The Charisma of 2016 is still a lightweight carver with a passion for short turns, but a year ago it purloined its wood core structure from the avant-garde V-Werks series, making it lighter than ever before.

The Charisma is adorned with a dollop of tip rocker, but it’s so well integrated into the ski’s camber line the only noticeable effect is an improvement in ease in all conditions.  A bundle of Charisma features bear the “Bio-Logic” stamp, all of which work together to not just improve comfort but add to skier safety.

The tail is a little narrower and not as stiff as the forebody, so the culprit in the caboose that plays a factor in some knee sprains will release the load on the rearbody of the ski.  The ski’s top profile elevates the toe piece of the (Marker) integrated binding so the skier’s stance is level, helping to equalize the strain on quads and hamstrings, where an imbalance can likewise contribute to knee injuries.

In short, a lot of thought went into making the Charisma truly a women’s ski and not just a paint job with a forward mounting mark. The Charisma is comfortable running occasional raids into ungroomed environs, but it still struts its best stuff when lacing short slashes together down a pitched patch of crisp corduroy.