These 2 skis were reviewed in detail earlier by Dawgcatching, and my impressions are about the same, with possibly a few new twists.
Me: old, 5'7, 155 lbs, former instructor, aggressive, born and raised in Jamaica but not affiliated with the Bobsled Team of yore, usually 70/30 skier at Tahoe
Previous skis owned and liked: Head iM 78,177, Bliz 8.7 Magnum, 174
Current skis: 08 Dynastar Legend Pro Rider, 177
Where: Sugar Bowl/Tahoe, 1/12/11, blue bird day, no new snow in 9 days, hard wind-scoured AM snow, soft in the PM
How: Skis were tuned to 1/2 and skied alternately on identical runs (14 runs total, 7 each)
Skis: '11 Volkl Kendo, 177, 127-88-109mms, turn rad. 21.9m, Solly STH 14s
'11 Elan Apex, 177, 128-88-198mms, turn rad. 21m, Solly STH 14s
Kendo: Started on hard, wind-scoured groomers, and this ski was scary in places with no snow cover. The Kendo is rather soft in the tip, stiff in the mid-section, and with a stiffish tail...The front hooks up close to the mid-section, so tip pressure doesn't work well on hardpack, as there is a delay until the middle engages...Skiers with racing backgrounds may not like this delay...I didn't..The Kendo rewards a centered stance but is still not exciting on groomers, and acts almost like a ski with an early-rise tip.
A different story on soft snow where it's a blast....stable, easy, no speed limit, very forgiving, and can be feathered/slarved in crud unlike its big brother, the Mantra. It also feeds back some of the pingy/ceramic harshness of the Mantra on hard snow....Short turns and hard bumps are not in its agenda....It makes nice round med/long turns in anything soft at any speed, even slow, and is an excellent tool in difficult soft snow...I guess this would define an all-mountain ski, whatever that means.
Pros: Stable, G-essy, competent soft snow performer with no speed limit there, forgiving, and fast.
Cons: Not exciting on groomers, slow to hookup on hardpack, not good in short turns or hard bumps.
Apex: Almost identical dimensions, and showed almost identical characteristics to the Kendo above. A little smoother than the Kendo.... a bulldozer in soft snow/crud, with no speed limit... loves to go fast, with a softer tail than the Kendo, and easier to slarve turns in mush...slightly better in bumps, but not its forte as well.
Pros/Cons: As for the Kendo above, just a different "feel".
Observations: I was looking for a groomer-oriented ski with some versatility to complement my "08 Dstar LPR (97mm waist) which has a stiffish, EVEN, flex, and which I like better than EITHER of the tested skis above. I will have to look for something narrower, and with a smaller turn radius....but as usual YMMV
