Olesya Chornoguz
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This weekend I had a chance to demo quite a few of men's/unisex skis. I didn't demo any of the women's skis because there was no women's demo skis in 170+ cm length. I will just give some quick notes. not too technical just my impression.
About the tester: I am 6'1" tall 190+ lbs, low advanced skier comfortable on almost any groomer. My daily driver ski is Kenja and Savory 7 is my pow ski. I ski with medium speed on groomers, not superfast but not very slow I would say. Conditions - mainly soft packed man-made powder groomers with an occasional ice patch/hardpack, mostly very nice groomer conditions.
Rossignol Experience (women's equivalent is Temptation) 88, 170 cm
I was expecting to like these, but actually hated them. They felt very unresponsive, sluggish, like I was getting stuck, difficult to turn.
Head Rev Pro 85, 170 cm
Really liked those. Great edge grip, easy to initiate turns, stable at speed and fun.
Blizzard Brahma, 173 cm, 88 mm waist
These were so much fun! I loved them - very easy to turn, energetic, stable at speed and great edge hold. These were my second favorite of all I demoed.
Blizzard Bonafide (women's equivalent is Samba), 173 cm, 98 mm waist.
These ski are damp and burly. I could ski them, but they were tiring me out, also was hard to stay really on top of them all the time. My quads were burning by 2nd run on them. They love to go as fast as possible fast and smooth over any piles and terrain irregularities, don't like short radius turns on them - it's tiring although turn initiation is fairly easy. I just don't ski fast enough to really enjoy them at this point. Good edge hold and carving.
Volkl RTM 81, 171 cm
These are fun carvers, super stable/damp, but very stiff somewhat unforgiving for me. I think to really enjoy them you need a very aggressive forward stance and ski very fast on hardpack. This ski loves to carve and a great ski overall, just a bit too demanding for me, I felt my quads burn towards the end of the 2nd run so probably couldn't forward enough on them and I probably don't ski fast enough to truly let them shine. They have amazing edge hold, the best of all I have demoed! Icy and firm condition are probably super fun on these skis. Interestingly I read that the ski if fully rockered, no camber? I guess it's a new construction Volkl implemented this year even for frontside skis?
Volkl Mantra, (women's equivalent is Aura) 177 cm, 100 mm waist
My absolute favorite of all the skis I demoed! I was at first afraid that they will be too long in 177 and too burly, but I didn't feel the extra length. They are very easy to turn, not demanding at all, very responsive, fun, fantastic edge hold for a ski that wide. Probably not as good edge hold as RTM, but at least as good as Kenjas. They ski pretty smilarly to Kenjas, maybe Mantras are a tiny bit less forgiving or it could be the longer length. Great for short radius turns - very easy pivoting probably because they are fully rockered. Long radius turns were great too, super stable at speed, but will go as slow as you want them to and they were more forgiving and easier to ski then RTM. I wondered how they feel in powder, probably pretty good. Honestly if I had to go with one ski quiver these are perfect and kind of want them.
I understand why a lot of Divas love Auras.
Some thoughts after demo: is while I am not an agressive/fast skier I do prefer Volkl skis, Blizzard was close 2nd and Head 3rd. For some reason I don't get along with the new Rossignol Experience skis even though I love my Savory 7, but powder skis is a different story. It's too bad they didn't have any of The Head Joy line in 170+ cm length, I guess the narrowed skis of the Joy line Head doesn't even make longer than 168. Looked like Divas who demoed Head Joy skis enjoyed them a lot. I like stiff/burly skis for groomers, but not quite ready for the really burly ski like RTM and Bonafide.
About the tester: I am 6'1" tall 190+ lbs, low advanced skier comfortable on almost any groomer. My daily driver ski is Kenja and Savory 7 is my pow ski. I ski with medium speed on groomers, not superfast but not very slow I would say. Conditions - mainly soft packed man-made powder groomers with an occasional ice patch/hardpack, mostly very nice groomer conditions.
Rossignol Experience (women's equivalent is Temptation) 88, 170 cm
I was expecting to like these, but actually hated them. They felt very unresponsive, sluggish, like I was getting stuck, difficult to turn.
Head Rev Pro 85, 170 cm
Really liked those. Great edge grip, easy to initiate turns, stable at speed and fun.
Blizzard Brahma, 173 cm, 88 mm waist
These were so much fun! I loved them - very easy to turn, energetic, stable at speed and great edge hold. These were my second favorite of all I demoed.
Blizzard Bonafide (women's equivalent is Samba), 173 cm, 98 mm waist.
These ski are damp and burly. I could ski them, but they were tiring me out, also was hard to stay really on top of them all the time. My quads were burning by 2nd run on them. They love to go as fast as possible fast and smooth over any piles and terrain irregularities, don't like short radius turns on them - it's tiring although turn initiation is fairly easy. I just don't ski fast enough to really enjoy them at this point. Good edge hold and carving.
Volkl RTM 81, 171 cm
These are fun carvers, super stable/damp, but very stiff somewhat unforgiving for me. I think to really enjoy them you need a very aggressive forward stance and ski very fast on hardpack. This ski loves to carve and a great ski overall, just a bit too demanding for me, I felt my quads burn towards the end of the 2nd run so probably couldn't forward enough on them and I probably don't ski fast enough to truly let them shine. They have amazing edge hold, the best of all I have demoed! Icy and firm condition are probably super fun on these skis. Interestingly I read that the ski if fully rockered, no camber? I guess it's a new construction Volkl implemented this year even for frontside skis?
Volkl Mantra, (women's equivalent is Aura) 177 cm, 100 mm waist
My absolute favorite of all the skis I demoed! I was at first afraid that they will be too long in 177 and too burly, but I didn't feel the extra length. They are very easy to turn, not demanding at all, very responsive, fun, fantastic edge hold for a ski that wide. Probably not as good edge hold as RTM, but at least as good as Kenjas. They ski pretty smilarly to Kenjas, maybe Mantras are a tiny bit less forgiving or it could be the longer length. Great for short radius turns - very easy pivoting probably because they are fully rockered. Long radius turns were great too, super stable at speed, but will go as slow as you want them to and they were more forgiving and easier to ski then RTM. I wondered how they feel in powder, probably pretty good. Honestly if I had to go with one ski quiver these are perfect and kind of want them.
I understand why a lot of Divas love Auras. Some thoughts after demo: is while I am not an agressive/fast skier I do prefer Volkl skis, Blizzard was close 2nd and Head 3rd. For some reason I don't get along with the new Rossignol Experience skis even though I love my Savory 7, but powder skis is a different story. It's too bad they didn't have any of The Head Joy line in 170+ cm length, I guess the narrowed skis of the Joy line Head doesn't even make longer than 168. Looked like Divas who demoed Head Joy skis enjoyed them a lot. I like stiff/burly skis for groomers, but not quite ready for the really burly ski like RTM and Bonafide.
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