Volkl Mantra Alpine Ski

 This is a pretty kick-ass ski.  It's kind of like a really wide GS ski (96mm underfoot.)  It's at its most natural going really fast on firmer off-piste snow.  It will do short-radius turns, but it has to be muscled a bit and it's not necessarily pretty.  Moguls are a lot of work.  On groomed slopes, it holds a carve almost as well as my GS skis, but it's definitely slower edge-to-edge.  In fresh powder, the nose sometimes dives a little at lower speeds, with the bindings mounted on the factory mark.  They're still tons of fun in those conditions, though.  I also like skiing among the rocks and trees, and these skis are agile enough for that and wide enough not to sink when I give them a good shove to initiate a turn.

 

I bought these skis to be my all-conditions ski.  I've been loving them for that purpose.  I do wish I'd had the binding mounted 1cm back, but I suppose I might whine about the slower turn initiation and less tip control if I did.

I purchased the original version of the Mantra prior to is release in the 05/06 season.  The original ski was a gray color topsheet and had a waist width of 94 mm, and it was mounted with Fritchi Freeride alpine touring bindings.   This was the first wider ski I had purchased and it really made the off-piste and backcountry much easier.  Very versitile ski that can go from groomed to deep snow comfortably.  Volkl Mantra Review 2005

I demoed these recently at sugar bowl.  They were recently waxed, but the edges were very rough and could have used a tune.  The conditions were 3-5" of fresh (it was still snowing when I was up there).  I am 5'6" and about 125 lbs.  My previous ski was the Fischer RX-6.  I consider myself to be a level 6 skier.  I skied the Mantra the second half of the day after trying the Nordica Enforcer.  I found the Mantra to be better than the Enforcer in crud, but not necessarily hard snow or powder.  For the first hour I was fighting with the ski trying to figure out how to ski it properly on harder snow.  Eventually I just sort of gave up on the harder stuff and moved onto the crud off of Disney chair; and i'm glad I did.  The Mantra handled so easily in crud.  Much better than the Enforcer, in my opinion, which tossed me around occasionally.  All of a sudden the same ski that used to feel bulky and unwieldy felt amazingly manuverable.  I ended up having too much fun and lost track of time while laping Disney chair so unfortunately I never got a chance to test these in any powder.  It took me awhile to get used to the wider waist and the longer ski, but once I did I really enjoyed the ride that the Mantra was able to provide.

I bought these 08' mantras this year (2009-2010) and got a great deal.  They're the 177cm length.  I'm about 6'1" and 200lbs and these ski great!  Very stable, responsive, smooth yet solid flex, and a pleasure to ski on overall.  Only problem is that I've noticed that the graphics side of the ski gets cut up very easily, but I guess that happens with any ski.  Other than that, these are awesome!  Definitely highly recommended.