The Kenja is one of the last iconic Völkls to go through the modernization process that inevitably added rocker to what was once a traditional, fully cambered baseline. Being the youngest child can have its benefits, for Völkl learned from its elder siblings that retaining a soupcon of camber underfoot accented the agility that makes the new Kenja feel responsive despite the often energy-sapping presence of tip and tail rocker.

“The changes to this ski are all good,” reassures The Boot Doctors’ Galena Gleason. “Nimble and easy to initiate, yet it charges.  I was blown away by how stable [it was] at speed.”  While Galena was describing the new Kenja, she could have written the same words about its progenitors, implying that the latest iteration has improved without losing the essential properties that made the Kenja practically a brand unto itself among women’s skis.

The 2016 Kenja has a little more surface area to assist flotation off-piste, plus a bit of a boost to its tail dimensions, which helps it see a carved turn through to completion.  Both alterations are beneficial to average skiers, but the Kenja sill saves her best moves for the experts who, like Galena, know how to tilt and push her to extract the most from her potential.

If there’s a condition the Kenja can’t master, it probably doesn’t involve snow.  If you’re an advanced to expert woman who skis everything the patrol will open, you should own a pair of these skis.