If some ski model census taker added up all the iterations of the Völkl Mantra sold since its inception, the sum should show the Mantra to be the most popular All-Mountain West ski of the last decade.

Over the unusually long arc of its existence, the Mantra has morphed every few seasons, putting on a few mm’s of girth one year, adding a dab of early rise to the tip another. The latest stage in its evolution, which debuted two seasons ago, was also the most dramatic, resulting in a significant change in the Mantra’s personality.

Völkl didn’t change the Mantra’s composition – it’s still a classic combo of wood and Titanal – but they changed everything else, going from a fully cambered ski to a double rocker design that is bone-flat underfoot and rockered at tip and tail. The alterations allow the new Mantra to swivel around in soft snow, making it much more forgiving in the off-piste conditions. The premium previously placed on pilot proficiency and precision no longer pertains.

One characteristic the Mantra has retained in all its incarnations, including the current one, is ironclad edge grip underfoot. Like any torsionally rigid, 100mm-wide ski, the Mantra isn’t whippet-quick edge to edge, but testers were nearly unanimous in acknowledging that once on edge it carves big, accurate arcs, even on hard snow.

A quick dive into the test data underscores the Mantra’s transformation into an off-trail ski: note the high scores for Off-piste performance and Drift/Scrub. Experts will also appreciate that the latest Mantra hasn’t abandoned two of the traditional values that make it a Völkl: carving accuracy and stability at high speed.