Kendo 88 - Realskiers

2020 Volkl Kendo 88

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Ski Stats

Sidecut 129/88/111

Radius 18.6m @ 177cm

Lengths 163,170,177,184

Weight TBA @ 177cm

MSRP $775

FIND

Power Score: 9.21

Finesse Score: 8.94

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[mepr-hide if="rule: 3745"]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.” [/mepr-hide]

For most of its long existence, the Völkl Kendo has lived in the shadow of its big brother, the Mantra, the ski that virtually created the All-Mountain West genre as competitors scrambled to imitate it. Not that the Kendo didn’t have its fans, but the wider Mantra tended to attract more ardent adherents. So it’s no surprise that when it came time for a major design change, the Mantra was the show pony trotted out to demonstrate the merits of the new technology.

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.” Schaffner’s observation about the Kendo 88’s peppy turn finish deserves attention, as its exceptional energy earned it a near-perfect 9.75 score for Rebound/Turn Finish.

One reason the Kendo 88 is so solid yet so playful is its 3-piece Titanal Frame design allows the structure to be more easily compressed and its heavy-duty fiberglass laminate to load up with rebound energy. An energetic turn finish isn’t unique to the Kendo 88, but it’s nonetheless a relatively rare commodity in today’s market.

Its kinda crazy to look at one set of subjective test results and declare one ski to be better than its peers, but the Kendo 88 is good enough to be worthy of such an accolade. If we had to pick one ski from one category to wear the mantle of Ski of the Year, the Kendo 88 would be it.