The RTM 84 hasn’t skied this well since before it was stripped of its Titanal laminates two years ago. Now the old bite and rebound are back. The RTM 84 is one of the very few Frontside models that earned one of its highest scores for Rebound/Turn Finish, an oft-overlooked trait among carving skis that don’t want to ever loose contact with snow.

What rejuvenated the RTM 84 is called 3D.Glass, a frightfully clever new configuration for a well-known material. Instead of interfering with the 3D.Ridge shape on the top that is the collection’s defining feature, Völkl blended its embellishment with the base of the ski. An extra flap of fiberglass underfoot folds up where it meets the sidewall then wraps over the top of it, integrating the glass layer with the rest of the chassis.

3D.Glass is like a blend of ski Botox and blow: it makes everything about the RTM 84 smoother, with no visible sign of surgery, and the ski is preternaturally more energetic, ever ready to respond to athletic input. 3D.Glass is all the more effective because the RTM 84 baseline includes a cambered patch underfoot. Applying pressure on this glass arch is what has injected a few cc’s of pure energy into the RTM 84’s routine.

As we wrote last year, the principal upgrade the RTM 84 UVO provides over its RTM 81 stable mate is the Ultimate Vibration Object (UVO) attached to its topskin just behind the tip. The UVO uses a vibration absorbing technology that’s been around at least since Rossi used its V.A.S. tech on the legendary 4SK: attach metal to a viscoelastic substrate and you’ve created a way to turn a shock wave into another energy form.

The UVO takes this technology one step further by making it multi-axis: it doesn’t just intercept longitudinal shocks; it also operates when hit with a lateral blow, as when tilted to a high edge on hard snow. It helps keep the extended rocker in the forebody from rocking around and keep its focus on the business of high-speed carving.