Volkl Kiku Ski
February 12, 2009
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The buzz this year has been all about the Kiku, as evidenced by all the drool I had to wipe off the skis when the local patrollers saw them stashed next to the snow pit I was digging. OK, so I admit to adding a little drool of my own when I pulled the Kikus out of the box. And they deserve the admiration. These women-specific fatties look like powder boards, but perform in all conditions. The more I ski them the more I like them, and it’s a crying shame that my demo pair has heavy alpine bindings, because I’d love to schlep the Kikus to the backcountry and let ‘em rip in the real powder (which, sadly, we don’t have at the local resort here this year). But, as we know, I’m lazy, and the chances of me reaching for a heavy setup when I can take my superlight-can-be-lifted-with-a-pinky backcountry setup are pretty minimal. So I’ve tested the Kiku at the resort only. I wanted to hold off on this review until I could try these in deep powder, but it just doesn’t seem like this is the year. I’ll update the review with the report from the white room if I get that chance.
What I do know about the Kikus is that they’re a powerful, no-nonsense ski that can rip some serious big, fast turns. As the lucky recipient of knee surgery last year, I’ve been tentative about speed, but I had to just get over it when I got on the Kikus. They just do not want to do sissy little speed-shedding slalom-y turns, they want big, sweeping, wide, fast giant-radius downhill turns. Because it’s just not fun to wrestle with 105mm-underfoot skis to try to get them to do things they don’t want to do, I was forced to get over my post-knee-trauma hesitation and rip it up the way the Kikus are meant to do. And ever since then, I’ve liked them more and more.
I’ve read reviews criticizing the Kiku for being “soft” and to that I say “whaaaa?” This is not a soft ski. This is a powerful, stable, solid board, not a noodle. Beginners might not like it for this reason, and with my initial start-of-season hesitation, I didn’t like it either until I remembered how to ski with aggression. Usually I find Volkls to be a fairly forgiving, dependable ski, but the Kiku won’t do you any favors unless you ski with authority. This isn’t a downside by any means; the Kiku is very stable and has saved my bacon in a few sketchy chutes by holding the line when it really, really needed to be held. Once you learn the nuance of the Kiku, you can readily convince it to cooperate for short, tight turns, but the big-radius sweeps are where it’s at for this ski.
Because we’ve had such a lame snow year, most of my Kiku time has been on hardpack, chop, and crud. Yippee. But it’s still been fun, since this is a fun ski. My one complaint about the ski is that it chatters on hardpack at high speeds. I can’t believe I’m writing that, because ski reviews usually fall back on that standard complaint at some point, so I vowed never to use the phrase. But, there I was, straightlining it down the steep hardpack, and when I powered into a turn, it happened – chatter. But come on- it’s a fattie powder ski, can you blame it? Hardpack is lame. Personally I can forgive a little backtalk from the Kiku when it’s restricted to hardpack. What little powder I could find was completely demolished by the Kikus. My regular ski (also Volkl, by the way) is no skinny minnie, but the Kiku is so much wider I was tickled by how much higher I rode over the powder. I expected to lose a little speed in the 10″ of fresh but the Kikus just blasted through it, leaving me giggling inwardly and thinking “oooh, neat!” I usually return demos after I’ve posted the review, but I really want to hang on to these for a few more weeks just in case we get a powder dump at the resort. I suspect that 20-24″ of pow is where the Kiku will find its proper home.
Oh, I guess I do have one other complaint – the topsheets. They’re cream colored with red splashes with flowers. Not cool. I don’t let topsheets dictate my ski choice, but I do think this design could stand some improvement. They look like they’re supposed to form some sort of shape when put together, but I must be failing the ski Rorschach because I just can’t see it. If anyone can write in with a good explanation of what these topsheets are about, you’ll deserve a prize. In the meantime, ignore the topsheets and don’t worry – these skis are worthy. Enjoy.
Atomic Femme Fatale skis
April 8, 2008
This is a slightly unfair review, but since it’s positive, I’ll go ahead and post it. It’s unfair because I tested a pair of Femme Fatales that were really completely unsuitable for me, the 150 cm length. That means they come up to about my collarbone. I had them while starting back to skiing after having knee surgery; I wanted short little boards that wouldn’t be too much of a strain on my tender, arthroscopic-camera-ravaged knee.
The cool thing was that I really had fun on these little shorties. They made my return to skiing really easy and uneventful, and for that I thank them. The adorable little 150 cm length got me making adorable little tiny-radius turns (my ski partner even said “look at your cute little turns!”) and were super light, just what my knee needed.
One of my favorite features of these skis was the notch for STS skin tails. LOVE. I really don’t know why all backcountry skis don’t have this notch. On the Femme, it’s part of a rubber-ish cap on the tail of the ski, and it held my skin tail securely in place and prevented the scratches I always get on my ski bases from putting my skins on and off. This feature is genius and there’s no reason why we can’t have it on all skis. Well, there might be a reason, but it’s probably some ski construction industry secret.
Unfortunately I had to part ways with my tiny companions when I graduated back to the backcountry – I just sank in the powder wearing these. I mean sank. To my waist. And stopped. Halfway down. They were also too short to deliver any real speed and I spent a few anxious days chasing the other Geargals around the mountain, unable to keep up and feeling like someone’s little sister. You know, the one that mom and dad drop off at the resort with big sis and her friends, while big sis pouts and complains that she doesn’t want to babysit all day. That is not a dynamic that I wanted to revisit at this point in my life. So, if I could test a pair of the Femmes that were suitable to my size, I would have a more thorough review for you, but I did enjoy these skis a lot, so that’s something. I actually regret selling these skis, as they were fun and I can see that they’d be useful in certain short-ski-appropriate situations, but the cute little skis went to a new home with a cute little woman who only came up to my chin. Seriously, if there is one way for a Geargal to feel beastly, it’s for normal-size her to stand next to a perfect adorable tiny size 85 pound woman. She was a perfect match for the wee little Femmes, and I’m sure they’re very happy together. And she is one lucky gal, as what is only knee deep powder for me is thigh deep for her. Hmph.
Volkl Queen Attiva Ski
February 6, 2008
Note: the ski I tested, pictured above, is the 05/06 version of this ski.
As some of you may know (oh, who am I kidding, you don’t know, so I’ll tell you), I had knee surgery this year. Getting back to skiing has been a little rough. I wasn’t even particularly enjoying skiing this year. I was able to ski the groomers just fine but let’s face it, groomers are boring as hell. I was resigned to a ho-hum season when I got the chance to try these babies.
Immediately I was transformed from the shadow of my former schussing self into a happy ski sprite, zooming down the slopes on these versatile, powerful, FAST skis from Volkl. These are marketed as more of a powder ski, and let me tell you, they do deliver in the pow pow. They have that fun diving-porpoise movement and they sing through the powder like angels on high. That’s one of my more nonsensical metaphors, but I’m so transported by these skis that I can’t make sense anymore.
One of the most pleasant surprises of these light (5-ish lbs) planks is that they still cut through the chop like butter. They’re flexible and light but the tips are somehow firm enough to hold their ground against the death cookies (been a while since you heard that term, eh? Hey, I never said I was a spring chicken). The only conditions that gave me trouble were hardpack/near-ice. The Queens are a little too flexible to grip the ice well, but who cares, who wants to ski on ice anyway? Surprisingly nimble for being fatties, the Queens are even enjoyable in the bumps and are versatile enough to hold any type of turn on the (ick) groomers. They are incredible in the powder but truly are an all-mountain ski. Added bonus – they’re nice and light, perfect for climbing.
Extra big points to Volkl for making a women’s ski with such cool graphics, too. A women’s ski that’s black, red and gold – now that is awesome. Volkl’s going to have a hard time shaking me off their bandwagon now, and everyone’s a winner.
Atomic Pumori Ski
December 29, 2007
I can’t find much in the way of reviews on this ski, and I think it’s because these are Atomic’s dirty little secret. I tested the 172 length, which according to the manufacturer should suit me perfectly based on my body weight.
It’s hard to imagine who would like this ski, but I’ll give it a shot. Women who love skis with grabby tips, women who can’t get enough of heavy skis, and women who loooooooove unforgiving tails would adore these babies.
Since I’m not one of those women, I hated these skis. At least they were consistent, but they were consistently BAD. I had to ski with every ounce of strength and skill I possess to control them, and I firmly resented lugging these heavy, disobedient, willful planks to the top of the mountain. After a few turns I knew I faced a less-than-enjoyable ride down. I am not shy to admit that it was bloody scary trying to make my way down in less-than-ideal conditions on skis I couldn’t trust. I resorted to straight-lining it down without even attempting to turn, because that ended up being the safest option. I will give them that, these skis like to run, but they do not like to turn. And not in a good way.
The grabby tips are a problem in all conditions, and despite many efforts to re-tune and figure out the problem, a problem they remain. They are devious and sneaky, and every time I thought I’d found the secret to the Pumoris, one of the tips would snatch at some passing snow, knocking me off balance and making me swear. Yes, prissy little me, swearing! Imagine. A look back at my turns in powder revealed a very bizarre turning arc, which was most likely a result of my desperate efforts to control the boards. Turns required such advance planning that if there was a tree within 1/4 mile of my line, I’d break out in a cold sweat. Powder skiing should be fun and effortless, not desperate and frightening.
On hardpack these things were even worse. They forced me into the backseat because they have to be turned with their tails due to the grabby tips. Turning on your ski tails is not fun. I think I’ve mentioned the word “unforgiving” in this post before, and it’s worth saying again – these skis are stricter than a Catholic schoolteacher. If they were capable of smacking me with a ruler I’m sure they would have done it, and for no good reason at that. They forced me into a bad situation and then punished me for it. I’m sure there are many other life metaphors that I could insert to illustrate my point further, but I’ll let your imaginations run wild.
In all conditions I felt I was on the cusp of a very bad fall. The skis put me constantly off balance and struggling for control and correction. Unpredictable, moody, and unreliable are things I look for in bad boys, not skis. Big thumbs down to these disappointing boards.
