Volkl Peregrine 82s - The honeymoon stage

[snoWYmonkey]

Oh my! I have a mega crush on this ski.

I bought it solely based on reviews, on line and from colleagues, but had never skied it. I own an old pair of volkl mantras that I like, but this ski is love, all love, from the very first turn.

Visually, the top sheet leaves me feeling a bit meh, but at least the neon orange makes it easy to pick out on the rack, and at this stage in my skiing I never look down at my feet so I can live with the graphics.

I am an advanced skier, 145 pounds dry, 5"5", skiing mostly steep northern rocky mountain snow. my pair is 168cm.

I debated long and hard between the 82 and the 80. I think the 80 is described as more forgiving, which I also wanted, but am glad I went for the slightly more performance oriented version of the peregrine.

I have the binding centered as per the suggested fore and aft binding location for my boot length. It is a unisex ski.

So far, this is day 4 of easy to steep double blue groomers on firm to chalky snow. No bumps yet, but super keen to see if it is soft enough for those too.

It holds an edge incredibly well, and feels very dependable and consistent in both short, medium and long radius turns. The best part is that it can also produce a perfectly smooth skidded turn on firm and steep pitches without getting too grabby and unpredictable which my other narrower carvers tend to do when not being skied the way they demand. Perhaps this is because it does not have a lot of camber. It also allows for ultra short radius turns with so much ease releasing the tails that it feels effortless.

I did have it out in some chopped up powder on groomers and it would, as expected, not be my first choice for high speed turns in such conditions.

If it can handle bumps, I might just have partnered with my soulmate every day groomer/bump/teaching ski.

 

[ski diva]

How is it that I missed trying this ski? Now I have to.

 

[mountainwest]

Thank you for sharing this review! I hadn't heard of these skis before and now I am intrigued.

The best part is that it can also produce a perfectly smooth skidded turn on firm and steep pitches without getting too grabby and unpredictable which my other narrower carvers tend to do when not being skied the way they demand.

This is especially interesting, because very steep + very firm is where my current carvers (Blizzard Phoenix R14 Pro) get squirrelly. Do you have the Marker Lowride 13 FR GW bindings on them?

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@mountainwest Hi there. Yes, I have the stock track binding. I have not skied them yet on very firm or very steep. On the double blues I was not carving, just skidding. Yet, I found that they were not catching when mixing up skidded and carved on single blues and that was refreshing as I feel that so many skis these days prefer either or, carved or skidded.

They definitely have the acceleration of a regular carver when put on edge but the finesse of a more surfy all mountain ski when kept flatter. Maybe not surfy but at least eager to please and feel forgiving.

It is basically replacing the previous deacons as that line is discontinued, but only the 80 and 82 are completely revamped if I understand the shift correctly.

 

[mountainwest]

@mountainwest Hi there. Yes, I have the stock track binding. I have not skied them yet on very firm or very steep. On the double blues I was not carving, just skidding. Yet, I found that they were not catching when mixing up skidded and carved on single blues and that was refreshing as I feel that so many skis these days prefer either or, carved or skidded.

Agreed and a ski in the low 80s that lets you do both with ease does sound awesome.
Please continue to update this thread as you get the opportunity to try them in additional snow conditions. Since it is nearly impossible to demo a ski under 90 waist out here it is so helpful to read your experiences.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Same demo challenge here, though some narrower stocklis and kastles are now for rent in our region. Plus the more modest rossi exp low 80s something

 

[Verve]

Love the Peregrine! For those wondering why they haven’t heard of these, they’re the updated Volkl Decon from previous years. Brands be keeping us on our toes!

 

[Bookworm]

sounds like what I've been looking for!

 

[santacruz skier]

sounds like what I've been looking for!

But wait, you have your Blossoms

 

[Bookworm]

But wait, you have your Blossoms

Yeah, I realized later that I was wrong.

 

[SnowHot]

I haven't skied the Peregrine but Phil and some of our other men's testers have and have really liked it.

2025 Volkl Peregrine 82

Philpug Size tested: 177 Location tested: Vail, Co Conditions tested in: Nice Chalky Groomers Volkl is the master of trickle down technology and the new Peregrine 82 is Volkl's lucky recipient this year. The all-new Peregrine replaces the Deacon 84 (there is also a Peregrine 80 that replaced...

www.skitalk.com

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@SnowHot I really enjoyed their the review on skitalk and found it very helpful in deciding between the two sizes.

 

[Verve]

Just re-demoed these on Friday and I completely agree with @SnowHot ’s take: they stand out bc they absolutely can hold an edge but don’t demand that you’re always making a specific type of turn. They’re much more comfortable riding on their bases than other skis of this type that I’ve been on. I didn’t take them in the bumps but was in various manky groomer conditions and they felt great skidding turns as needed or making long, edged arcs. I kept waiting for the tail catch that never came

I’m in firm, east coast conditions and would definitely consider this ski if I skied mostly groomers. I typically ski between 170-180 in all mountain skis and was happy on the 172.