Gear Review: 2012 Volkl Mantra

There is not a whole lot you can say about a ski that has been having things said about itself for so many years. The Volkl Mantra has proven itself time and again all over the mountain. It works great as an alpine touring ski, a powder ski, an everyday ski, a one ski quiver, the list goes on.

What happens when you take something so good and change it a bit though? The Mantra didn’t change much, but the good people over at Volkl gave it a bit of rocker in the tip and a couple millimeters more width. The Volkl Mantra is available in 170cm, 177cm, 184cm and 191cm lengths. Its’ new dimensions are 132-98-118 (the old dimensions were 133-96-116).

I am very skeptical about all the rocker happening in the ski industry. You will be hard pressed to find a pair of skis that carry traditional camber anymore. It is going to take some getting used to, but it will have to be done because rocker technologies are here to stay.

The Volkl Mantra is a ski that inspires confidence at speed. It begs you to go faster and drive it harder. I found that the older Mantra carved a bit better than the new version, but that is not to say that you cannot lay over the new Mantra and dig trenches on the hardest of snow. Thanks to its’ race construction and two sheets of titanal the Mantra is stiff and will hold its’ edge on the hardest of snow. The small amount of tip rocker they added also allow this ski to get on edge easier than before.

When diving into trees and hunting out stashes of soft snow the tip rocker really helped the Mantra in a way that was needed. I found that the old Mantra liked to dive in deeper snow. It was happier pushing through the deepest spots and breaking crud trying to prove itself as a workhorse. It worked harder not smarter. The tip rocker in the new Mantra keeps these puppies on top of the snow and quite a bit more nimble when roosting through tight trees.

The only spot I found that I don’t like to ski the Mantra is in the bumps. It has a wide chassis that is not fun to try and zipper through and with two sheets of metal it is snappy and stiff. These are not fun characteristics of a ski when dodging Volkswagen sized bumps. I felt as if I were getting bucked like a cowboy on the back of a horse.

If you enjoy skiing powerfully and fast in all conditions I would recommend that you get on a pair of Mantra’s. They will perform for you no matter how hard you drive them (don’t get lazy on them though, you will pay). They eat ice for breakfast and powder for dinner, not stopping in between for lunch knowing there is more terrain to tear up. Jump on a pair and find out for yourself.

As a guy that is spends half his time riding backwards on skis, I am not typically into non twin-tip skis. However, these skis are just flat out fun and would not think twice about buying my own pair.

Find it here:

http://shop.skibarndurango.com/volkl-mantra-ski-2012.html

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