Völkl has always cultivated a high-end clientele, both in terms of skill set and what they’re willing to pay for skis. The German brand has been so successful at cultivating an affluent, expert customer base that it has the enviable problem of being pigeonholed as a high-end ski for talented skiers. But even the expert-ski market has a price ceiling above which it’s risky to rise, which puts a damper on commercial adventurism.
But what if money were no object? To answer this envelope-pressing question Völkl created V.Werks, a special production unit that focused on the Holy Grail of ski design, superlight construction wedded to elite performance. The star product of the V.Werks lab was the Katana V.Werks, which remains in the line in 24/25. Its 3D.Ridge chassis worked so well, it became the backbone of Völkl’s non-race collections. Within a few years of the Katana’s introduction, its DNA had spread to nearly every corner of Völkl’s recreational collection. From a construction standpoint, the Katana became the conceptual grandfather of almost the entire line.
Five years ago, I speculated that the freshly minted Deacon V.Werks wouldn’t have the same downstream impact as the Katana V.Werks, but I may have spoken too soon. One of the most esoteric features of the Deacon V.Werks was a lattice-work of carbon fibers crisscrossing the tip, which inspired the Tailored Carbon Tips of the M7 Mantra and Mantra 88. Working in concert with Tailored Titanal Frame, Tailored Carbon Tips give the latest Mantras the same clear connection to the front of the ski found in the Peregrine V.Werks.
All carving skis are judged by how well they maintain edge connection throughout the turn on hard snow. Classically, the key to keeping a ski quiet all along its edge was to ladle on the Titanal, a proven method that achieves its damping objective in part by its mass. As an innovator in lightweight design, V.Werks instead turned to its wheelhouse material, carbon, to make a damp, non-metal ski that would be light and responsive.
In the fat ski genres where Americans buy the vast majority of their skis, Blizzard is riding a decade-long hot streak. If you only look at skis over 85mm at the waist, it seems like Blizzard hasn’t missed a beat since the launch of its Flipcore baseline. But if you take a step back and look at the world market, there’s a category or two of carvers, skis meant to execute perfect, technical turns on hard snow, where Blizzard is all but invisible, at least in the U.S. For whatever reasons, its Quattro series never captured the imagination of the American carving public. The only way Blizzard was able to penetrate the Frontside segment stateside was with a tiny-waisted, off-trail model (Brahma 82), which is sort of like entering the category via the service entrance.
Consider the problem solved. The Thunderbird R15 WB, introduced three seasons ago and given a modest upgrade last year, doesn’t try to mask its racing pedigree with a carbon overdose; the communication with the angled edge is crisp and clear. The Thunderbird’s snow feel is like HDTV compared to the Quattro’s low-def reception. One reason the T-bird R15 WB feels so sublimely connected is its TrueBlend core has been modified to fit the hard-snow environment. By re-positioning tendrils of high-density beech within strata of lighter poplar, TrueBlend creates a perfectly balanced flex for each size. This may sound like esoterica only an expert can feel, but it’s palpable, and it’s wonderful.
Complementing TrueBlend is a carbon platform underfoot to help muffle shocks without losing the precision of the ski/snow connection. With this combination of wood and carbon, Blizzard has finally found a way to make a carver that is both quiet on the edge and explosive off it. And boy, is it fun to drive.
It requires sustained success for a model to achieve iconic status so that its name is nearly as well-known as the brand itself. The Strato. The X-Scream. The 5500. The Black Pearl. If a model becomes so important to a brand’s success that its name sticks around for a decade or more – in a market that usually operates at a roughly 4-year life expectancy between model make-overs – the ski beneath the name has probably been tweaked a few times over that span.
Cutting to the chase, the latest MX84 changed two fundamental elements to its classic chassis, the lay-up of the all-wood core and the composition of its signature feature, the Hollowtech tip. The Infini Core is a close relative of the cores used in Kästle’s race skis, giving the new MX84 the solidity and responsiveness of a competition model. The ski feels more substantial, not just underfoot, but from tip to tail. The slender poplar and beech vertical stringers provide the fully cambered baseline with just the right ratio between flex distribution and rebound.
The connection to the snow begins in the shovel, where the Hollowtech Evo upgrades its shock absorption effect with extra layers of dampening agents, so the tip stays welded to the snow. This isn’t just an advantage on groomers, where the shovel finds early engagement on hard snow, but in bumps, as well. Skiing moguls is transformed from a brutal mugging to feeling like your skis are just following gravity’s flow.
The 2024 MX83 was a very good ski; the 2025 MX84 is a great one, right there with the Stöckli Montero AR as a speed-loving, corner-hugging, crud-eating machine. You’d think the MX84 was made to be an all-condition ski until you roll it out onto a long, undulating carpet of corduroy, where it can display its electric talent for carving. No matter what tune you play in your head while you ski, the MX84 can dance to it.
Realskiers hasn’t reviewed a Technical ski for a few seasons, a reflection of the category’s general invisibility on the American market. I’d love for this to be a review of Atomic’s Redster X9S, an exceptional roadster that feels like you’re driving a low-slung sports car with a racing suspension. But precious few retailers stock them, and as goes the U.S. retailer community, so goes the country’s demo fleets.
I provide this prelude because while the Redster Q9.8 is worthy of your consideration – for reasons I will shortly present – it isn’t the ultimate expression of Atomic’s capabilities. If you don’t just ski groomers but attack them, you’ll like the way the narrower Redster X9S can cut a short turn with the sudden ferocity of a race slalom, but it’s Multi-Radius Sidecut allows the skier to mix in a liquid GS arc at will. Stability is assured in turns of all sizes by Atomic’s signature shock-absorption tech, Revoshock S, which uses floating steel plates arrayed along the forebody to keep the Redster X9S pinned to the slope.
The Q9.8 headlines a family of Redster spin-offs that adapt the Redster’s race-oriented tech to make it more suitable for occasional forays off-piste. The Redster Q9.8 is substantially wider (84.5mm underfoot @ 173cm) than the 65.5mm-waisted Redster X9S, but it retains a very tidy 14.4m sidecut radius. The Redster Q9.8 is assuredly more tolerant of off-trail conditions than the purebred racers, but it shouldn’t be mistaken for an all-mountain model. Once crispy corduroy is converted to sodden slush piles, the Redster Q9.8 is out of its element.
