Volkl The Grizzly Alpine Ski w/ Motion iPT Wide Ride 14.0 Binding

I bought a pair second hand to replace my volant powerkarve Ti's
I am 1.80 95kg 177grizzly
After a week the conlusions are...

The powerswitch works, the ski behaves different when you use it and in power it is stiff, real stiff.
It is wide, it is heavy, it is a solid chunk under your feet, but somehow it is not difficult to ski it at all, takes some power and energy, but what you put in you get out. Good for short swings and long high speed carving. Never got them nervous on those speeds, like tracks.
Bumps are not there thing and mine neither, but never the less they behaved well.
On hard pack very very grippy...
Relative forgiving.

But the last day with lots of fresh snow they were showing what they can do even better, float and move ground...
Nice crudbusters too.

Compared to the 173 volants powerkarve ti
higher edge grip, higher top speed, better float.
But takes a bit more energy to ski.

Bottom line very nice ski and an addition to the volant if needed a replacement. 

6'2 230lbs
177cm

These skis are the bomb.  If I had to ski one pair of skis for the rest of my life, the Grizzly would be my one-ski-quiver.  The Holy Grail of skis IMO.  These skis are just as at home skiing the front side as they are skiing powder and crud. 

This is my third pair of Volkls and the best.  A former racer, I love to ski variable conditions, steeps, hard pack, crud, even light windblown crust.  I used to think that the Atomic R:EX set the standard for powering through crud and variable conditions.  Not anymore.  The Grizzly is WAY more stable at speed.  The 177 has plenty of float in deep powder even for a big guy like me.  And on hardpack it holds an edge every bit as good as my Volkl Allstars (175), which I hardly ski anymore.  This is one beefy ski, very torsionally rigid.

I also considered the Mantras, although I can't compare them because I have yet to demo them. I chose the Grizzlies based on reviews,  because I believed that they would have better edge hold on hardpack, which I ski often.  They did not disappoint, although I am still looking forward to trying the Mantra one of these days, hopefully soon.  My friends swear by them.  I do think there would be considerable overlap if you owned both the Mantras and the Grizzlies.

I also have a pair of the original 190 Gotamas that I bought used and ski on big powder days, mostly in BC.  In crud, I am nearly as confident on the Grizzly as the Gotama, even in the shorter length.  It doesn't float like the Gotama, so it wouldn't be my choice for stomping big landings in deep powder.  The tips are comfortable spending time beneath the surface of deep powder, great for getting face shots, and they don't dive, even when applying a lot of forward pressure to the tips.  So when needed, you can take a very aggressive line with these skis in deep powder without the worry of picking up too much speed or going over the tips.. 

I skied the Grizzly in nearly 2' of powder at Copper Mountain (I know that sounds hard to believe because Summit County doesn't get very many big overnight dumps, but we really did have that much snow one time last year) and I could not make the tips dive.  Later in the day when skiing broken crud, the Grizzlies were just as comfortable bombing GS turns at 40mph.  I felt like Superman on skis!  So much fun.

I've read some reviews from folks that were intimidated by these skis.  My hunch is that they were skiing them too long for their body weight.  They are stiff skis, with real beefy wood cores, and lots of rebound energy.  So this might be too much for an intermediate skier especially if the skier is relatively light weight.  I was tempted to go with the 184s because of my body weight, but am very satisfied with the 177s.  If I were to buy another pair, I would get the 177s again.

If you are a strong skier, can put pressure on your tips and love to carve in all conditions, you will love these skis.

I demoed the Volkl Grizzly skis for a day at Squaw over the weekend and it was an interesting time.  As others have said, it's quite versatile, but also very intimidating.  I'm only an intermediate level skier and it was a bit too much for me handle.  It scared me early in the day and negatively affected my skiing for most of the day.

 

It does really start to shine once you get the speed up and I couldn't believe how well it handled in crud, but I found myself leaning back in fear far too often.  I just prefer something a bit less agressive and less stiff.

 

The Power Switch definitely works, it noticably changed the stiffness of the ski for me.

 

If you have the skills (that I lack), it's probably worth trying.  If you're still learning, I'd suggest trying something else.