scandium
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
We managed to run into 2 demo days this year - the Volkl one at Coronet Peak the day after a very decent dump of snow (~30cm, reasonably heavy and tracked but very soft and they'd left a nice layer on a lot of the groomed runs) and K2 on a hard-snow packed-off-piste at Remarkables. I had previously demoed the Kenja 88 and Blaze 94W in longer lengths on an indoor slope, which didn't really give me a good idea of what they would be like and in fact I enjoyed the Blaze much more in the conditions it was designed for. Sadly they didn't have the Secret at the Volkl day, but the reps thought from my reaction to the new Kenja and the Blaze that it might be a good ski for me if I was looking for something wider than the Kenjas.
Me: 157-158cm/53kg/skis 2019 Volkl Kenja 156cm/adventurous intermediate who is happy on most groomed runs but struggles off-piste on black runs
Mum is 164cm/51kg/skis 2019 Volkl Yumi 154cm/intermediate who prefers groomed runs but will take fresh tracks off-piste
Sorry - no photos of the Volkl demos as the visibility was terrible (we were in the cloud at the top) and my current phone likes to die the death of cold after about a minute out of my pocket.The best visibility was at the end of the day heading into night skiing...and even then it was pretty bad. We did a lap from Coronet Express over to Greengates on the groomers, popping off between the groomed areas, and back across to the bottom of the Coronet Express (pictured) through the Mid and Lower Donkey areas (to the left of this chairlift) which were ungroomed but pretty chopped up.
Volkl Kenja 88 156cm: I enjoyed this on the odd bit of groomed hard snow, but didn't have a chance to really open up the speed limit due to low visibility. This iteration is very pivoty and smeary compared to the older versions, and much less damp. As soon as I got into ungroomed snow I was Not Happy. The tip update compared to the last iteration I skied (2020) means that you tend to deflect and bounce off even softer lumps of snow but still don't really surf, so it's the worst of all worlds. Blech. I want to go THROUGH things if I'm not floating on the surface. I know this version got favourable reviews over on skitalk but clearly they're looking for something different to me - I wanted my own Kenjas (2019, full metal) back as soon as I went off piste because they don't float or surf like the Blaze, but don't charge through like a Kenja or older versions of the Santa Ana 93. They remind me of how the K2 Mindbender 88Ti skiied for me last year.
Volkl Blaze 94W 158cm: I decided to give this another go as my mother really enjoyed it. The shorter length found favour with both of us - it is a pivoty short-to-medium turn ski that actually goes surprisingly fast, and I was faster on ungroomed areas than on the Kenja due to how surfy it was over the soft snow, although with 'surfy' came 'bouncy' with larger piles of snow. I take back what I said about it being too soft - it feels much more solid than the Pandora 94 did for me - and remained stable with speed. They sucked on the odd crusty patch and scraped off bits on groomers because it was challenging to tip them on edge (maybe because we're shorter?) but in the conditions they were meant for were an awesome ski. I would consider this a ski that compensates for my poor off-piste technique.
Mum thought that they 'feel fast' in that she was speeding along much faster than she normally would for the conditions and visibility, attributing this to the stability of the ski and how easy they felt to pivot (easier than the Yumis). They floated well for her over the choppy snow and she kept up with me while I was demoing the Kenjas - highly unusual for us in ungroomed snow. On-piste and on harder snow, they felt like they were hard to get on edge and like they were speeding away from her at times.
K2 (and Line) at The Remarkables: Freshly groomed with a nice sprinkling of manmade snow overnight on a crisp day, I think around -4 degrees Celsius? Packed off-piste which was pretty solid for the most part with very occasional pockets of softer snow. One lap up Curvey dropping over the side to some naturally forming moguls and one groomer lap up Shadow where they had groomed on the Sunrise Face side (rather than just Calypso side) and also down Mid Steeps so you didn't have to take the cat-track vs. mogul option. Waterfalls was 'slick' that day and I didn't fancy it.
K2 Mindbender 89Ti 158cm: This feels like a totally different ski from the 2022 88Ti which felt like it would go through most things with the right amount of driving - according to the rep, the redesign has made it more energetic and easier to turn. What this mean was I got on a very bouncy-energetic-pivoty-swivelly ski with a tip that almost transmitted every bump to you, aka Not Really My Thing. They were stable at speed and I think would have been better a day or two prior when there was more fresh snow as the small patches of soft snow felt like an absolute floating dream. The bounciness meant I ended up getting a small amount of unintentional air, but the landing was stable. They were very swivelly on the moguls (which were fairly solid, but not ice) and allowed me to be tentative without punishing me.
They did not feel secure on the scraped-off steeper blue run I skiied and felt like they needed real work to carve and hold an edge - to be fair, I think only racing or narrow piste skis would have felt totally secure on that snow.
K2 Mindbender 89Ti 152cm: Mum tried the shorter length and commented immediately on the graphics which were 'a very nice neutral' after being highly unimpressed with Volkl's graphics the other day! The tip 'looked unwieldy' but was easy to turn to the point of 'being lazy when I ski'. Compared to the 2019 Yumi, they seemed 'more stable but less stiff' and 'much harder to get on edge'. That translated to a feeling of being out of control more easily when going faster. The floaty feel was also noticed in soft snow with a sense of going 'over' rather than 'through' the snow, including the same surprise catching air.
K2 Mindbender 99Ti 160cm: I knew this wasn't the day for this ski but decided to jump on it anyway. A stable ski but due to the width I struggled like anything to get them to hold an edge on the aforementioned scraped-off area and my knees were like "What WERE you thinking?"
They weren't a fan of the packed, hard snow off piste (is anyone?) but the rare patch of soft snow I hit made me think they would be stable-with-float and good for a soft snow day. They were a little more challenging to get around than the 89Ti but I can't say for sure if that was because the lack of edge hold was making me more tentative. I would have liked to compare these back-to-back with the Blaze 94W in similar conditions to really get a feel for them.
Me: 157-158cm/53kg/skis 2019 Volkl Kenja 156cm/adventurous intermediate who is happy on most groomed runs but struggles off-piste on black runs
Mum is 164cm/51kg/skis 2019 Volkl Yumi 154cm/intermediate who prefers groomed runs but will take fresh tracks off-piste
Sorry - no photos of the Volkl demos as the visibility was terrible (we were in the cloud at the top) and my current phone likes to die the death of cold after about a minute out of my pocket.The best visibility was at the end of the day heading into night skiing...and even then it was pretty bad. We did a lap from Coronet Express over to Greengates on the groomers, popping off between the groomed areas, and back across to the bottom of the Coronet Express (pictured) through the Mid and Lower Donkey areas (to the left of this chairlift) which were ungroomed but pretty chopped up.
Volkl Kenja 88 156cm: I enjoyed this on the odd bit of groomed hard snow, but didn't have a chance to really open up the speed limit due to low visibility. This iteration is very pivoty and smeary compared to the older versions, and much less damp. As soon as I got into ungroomed snow I was Not Happy. The tip update compared to the last iteration I skied (2020) means that you tend to deflect and bounce off even softer lumps of snow but still don't really surf, so it's the worst of all worlds. Blech. I want to go THROUGH things if I'm not floating on the surface. I know this version got favourable reviews over on skitalk but clearly they're looking for something different to me - I wanted my own Kenjas (2019, full metal) back as soon as I went off piste because they don't float or surf like the Blaze, but don't charge through like a Kenja or older versions of the Santa Ana 93. They remind me of how the K2 Mindbender 88Ti skiied for me last year.
Volkl Blaze 94W 158cm: I decided to give this another go as my mother really enjoyed it. The shorter length found favour with both of us - it is a pivoty short-to-medium turn ski that actually goes surprisingly fast, and I was faster on ungroomed areas than on the Kenja due to how surfy it was over the soft snow, although with 'surfy' came 'bouncy' with larger piles of snow. I take back what I said about it being too soft - it feels much more solid than the Pandora 94 did for me - and remained stable with speed. They sucked on the odd crusty patch and scraped off bits on groomers because it was challenging to tip them on edge (maybe because we're shorter?) but in the conditions they were meant for were an awesome ski. I would consider this a ski that compensates for my poor off-piste technique.
Mum thought that they 'feel fast' in that she was speeding along much faster than she normally would for the conditions and visibility, attributing this to the stability of the ski and how easy they felt to pivot (easier than the Yumis). They floated well for her over the choppy snow and she kept up with me while I was demoing the Kenjas - highly unusual for us in ungroomed snow. On-piste and on harder snow, they felt like they were hard to get on edge and like they were speeding away from her at times.
K2 (and Line) at The Remarkables: Freshly groomed with a nice sprinkling of manmade snow overnight on a crisp day, I think around -4 degrees Celsius? Packed off-piste which was pretty solid for the most part with very occasional pockets of softer snow. One lap up Curvey dropping over the side to some naturally forming moguls and one groomer lap up Shadow where they had groomed on the Sunrise Face side (rather than just Calypso side) and also down Mid Steeps so you didn't have to take the cat-track vs. mogul option. Waterfalls was 'slick' that day and I didn't fancy it.
K2 Mindbender 89Ti 158cm: This feels like a totally different ski from the 2022 88Ti which felt like it would go through most things with the right amount of driving - according to the rep, the redesign has made it more energetic and easier to turn. What this mean was I got on a very bouncy-energetic-pivoty-swivelly ski with a tip that almost transmitted every bump to you, aka Not Really My Thing. They were stable at speed and I think would have been better a day or two prior when there was more fresh snow as the small patches of soft snow felt like an absolute floating dream. The bounciness meant I ended up getting a small amount of unintentional air, but the landing was stable. They were very swivelly on the moguls (which were fairly solid, but not ice) and allowed me to be tentative without punishing me.
They did not feel secure on the scraped-off steeper blue run I skiied and felt like they needed real work to carve and hold an edge - to be fair, I think only racing or narrow piste skis would have felt totally secure on that snow.
K2 Mindbender 89Ti 152cm: Mum tried the shorter length and commented immediately on the graphics which were 'a very nice neutral' after being highly unimpressed with Volkl's graphics the other day! The tip 'looked unwieldy' but was easy to turn to the point of 'being lazy when I ski'. Compared to the 2019 Yumi, they seemed 'more stable but less stiff' and 'much harder to get on edge'. That translated to a feeling of being out of control more easily when going faster. The floaty feel was also noticed in soft snow with a sense of going 'over' rather than 'through' the snow, including the same surprise catching air.
K2 Mindbender 99Ti 160cm: I knew this wasn't the day for this ski but decided to jump on it anyway. A stable ski but due to the width I struggled like anything to get them to hold an edge on the aforementioned scraped-off area and my knees were like "What WERE you thinking?"
They weren't a fan of the packed, hard snow off piste (is anyone?) but the rare patch of soft snow I hit made me think they would be stable-with-float and good for a soft snow day. They were a little more challenging to get around than the 89Ti but I can't say for sure if that was because the lack of edge hold was making me more tentative. I would have liked to compare these back-to-back with the Blaze 94W in similar conditions to really get a feel for them.
