by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
How can a ski as narrow-waisted as the Kore 87 come across as the most versatile ski in its wide-body family? After all, the Kore collection is 100% an off-trail creation; its avatar should be the Kore 111, not this string bean.
The improbable polyvalence of the Kore 87 is partly explained by a sleight of hand Head pulled off in the make-up of the narrowest Kore models just two years ago. Taking advantage of Graphene’s ability to affect flex without a commensurate effect on mass, Head beefed up the Kore 87 to account for the certainty that it will spend much of its life on groomers. Its power quotient might have gone up another tick in 2022 with the substitution of poplar and Karuba for Koroyd, which subtly enhanced its feedback on hard snow.
Last year, Head coated all the Kores with a sheath of urethane, mostly to protect the top and sides from minor nicks and scratches, with the added benefit of further smoothing out the ride. Our stats suggest the new topskin had less effect on the Kore 87 than it did on wider Kore models, but no matter what its contribution is to the ski’s overall behavior, the experience the Kore 87 delivers remains remarkable for its trustworthy edge grip and quickness on and off the edge. Renowned bootfitter Jim Schaffner dubbed the 2023 version of the Kore 87, “Fun, easy skiing, yet enough high performance to hold well on harder snow. This is a very good execution of a one-ski quiver ski for the aging crowd!”
The recent improvements made to the Kore’s capacities on brittle hardpack don’t seem to have diminished its inherent talent for off-trail travel. The sidecut is fairly straight underfoot, so it’s simple to swivel, an action made even more greasy by a beveled top edge that slices sideways without resistance. But the primary contributor to the Kore 87’s ease of operation off-trail is its ethereal light weight.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
The EXP 86 Basalt has been created to serve a new breed of in-bounds skier, which Rossi refers to as “All-Resort.” Skiing is an important part of the overall resort experience, but it’s not the whole ball of wax for this resort visitor. While this person is an avid participant, he’s not going to go wandering out of bounds and most of his powder runs will be on the side of the trail. It’s probably safe to say he’s not going out in the worst conditions (by his definition), nor is he going to push very hard on the performance envelope.
In commercial terms, the EXP 86 Basalt is a “step-up” model, most likely a first-time purchase for a skier who has survived until now on rentals and second-hand fare. Its double-rockered baseline promotes a go-along-to-get-along attitude that encourages skills development without insisting on it. If the skier applies a little tip pressure, its supple forebody transfers energy with gentle insistence, coaching the skier up on an edge that feels confidence-building underfoot.
An aggressive skier who can’t wait to tear up the untamed backside of the mountain is better off looking at the diverse Black Ops family. The EXP 86 Basalt is the ticket for someone who just wants to enjoy the sport without feeling unduly challenged at every turn.
The true measure of a ski like the EXP 86 Basalt isn’t simply how easy it makes the sport for the target skier; it’s how well it performs once he’s attained a higher level of proficiency. It’s notable that the EXP 86 Basalt earned identical marks for Power and Finesse properties, just what one would hope to see in a ski intended to help skiers improve in a stress-free environment.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
Like most of the models that populate the All-Mountain East genre, the Sender 94 Ti from Rossignol is a variation on a theme established either by a wider ski or a much wider ski. Basically, AME models are predominantly shrunken Big Mountain models, so it shouldn’t surprise that that the Sender Ti 94 prefers its snow soft and wouldn’t mind if it were deep. It’s geared to be accessible to the occasional skier who wants an all-terrain ski with a mellow temperament. “It’s an ideal weekend warrior ski,” notes freestyle coach Alex O’Halloran, “not a full-charger’s ski.”
The Sender 94 Ti’s amply tapered and rockered tip is meant to buffer the blows of uneven crud fields, so it’s never going to find the top of a carved turn like a Technical ski. But when it does hook up, somewhere around the logo on the forebody, the Sender 94 Ti is simplicity itself to steer. As long as there’s enough loose snow to engage the base of the ski, the Sender Ti 94 tracks confidently through thick and thin.
The Sender 94 Ti is part of a complete reorganization of Rossi’s off-trail offering into three distinct families: Sender, Blackops and Escaper. Escapers are for backcountry escapades, Blackops are lavishly decorated, New School twintips in narrow, medium and jumbo widths and Sender (Rallybird for women) serves directional skiers who hunt lift-served powder pockets. The star of the series is the Sender 106 Ti+, a perfect match for the strong, skilled skier who knows how to send it. The Sender 94 Ti isn’t for that guy, but it is the right ski for the skier who wants to be that guy, but needs a little more help to get there.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
Any time a brand introduces a fundamentally new technology, it takes a couple of years to learn how to optimize it. After Völkl engineers had a few seasons to tinker with Titanal Frame, testing countless iterations, they found a way not only to perfect the benefits of Titanal Frame, but to magnify its virtues with a couple of complementary components. The marriage of Tailored Titanal Frame with 3D Radius Sidecut and Tailored Carbon Tips created a new benchmark for the genre, that will, in all probability, soon be recognized as one of the greatest all-terrain skis of all time.
The key to Titanal Frame is breaking what is normally a uniform topsheet of metal into three sections. The fore and aft sections of Titanal are shaped like an elongated “U”, with metal concentrated around the perimeter. The alu alloy here is .7mm thick, much thicker than usual, which accentuates the tip and tail’s connection to the snow, somewhat counterintuitive for an all-terrain ski.
The center section, which doesn’t mesh with the tip and tail pieces, is .3mm thick, a brilliant touch as it makes the center of the ski more flexible without losing its damping qualities in the critical underfoot area. This feature matches up perfectly with 3D Radius Sidecut, which we’ll get to in a moment.
In 2021/22 Völkl introduced Tailored Titanal Frame, that trims the width of the front section of Titanal to fit each size. This has the direct effect of making longer lengths noticeably beefier than their shorter kinder. If you’re used to skiing a 184cm, you might consider dropping to a 177cm to maximize the M6’s versatility.
Not content with all the forebody stability delivered by Titanal Frame, Völkl added a delicate braid of carbon fiber to the shovel, part of the ski most other all-terrain models leave floating inertly in space. Völkl made 100’s of iterations of Tailored Carbon Tips, searching for just the right response. The patch of fleece containing the carbon matrix has to be hand-laid into the mold, a level of artisanship that many skiers assume is the exclusive province of luxury brands.
Despite all these embellishments, the $749.99 MSRP for the 2024 M6 Mantra is less than it was two years ago for the M5 Mantra ($825). During a Zoom call prior to the M6 launch, I asked product manager Andreas Mann how it was possible, in an age when many brands strive to cut costs, Volkl ownership allowed R&D to increase their costs, to make a better, rather than a cheaper ski. His reply was the design team had the full confidence and support of upper management. This is what happens when product comes first.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
Lest there be any confusion, the Atomic Maverick 86 C didn’t crack our Recommended ranks because it’s a great ski. It earned our appreciation because it’s a remarkably good deal at its target retail of $549.95, a price plateau mostly populated by dreck. Atomic has made a habit out of making a superior carbon ski with an 86mm footprint, going back to its first Vantage series. The Maverick 86 C continues in this grand tradition.
The Maverick 86 C is a lot of ski for $549.95. I’m not sure how they pull off this pricing coup; maybe just sharing tooling and most materials (save Titanal) with the Maverick 88 Ti is enough to generate the usual gross margin. I suspect Atomic is able to make this model very efficiently and is passing the savings down the wholesale chain. However Atomic pulls it off, the beneficiary is the typical skier who only ekes out a few days a year and hopes to make the most of them.
For its exceptional cost/value relationship in a ski that accentuates ease, we award the Maverick 86 C a Silver Skier Selection.
