Gear of the Week | Valhalla 115 Bamboo

At the end of a not always easy season I think of a super chic and surfy freeride touring ski, perfect for tight forest descents in the deep Black Forest powder, but also for chopped up freeride slopes.

After reading the PowderGuide report about Frederic "Freddy" Andes and his Valhalla skis at the beginning of 2021, it didn't take long for Freddy to receive an email from me in his inbox.

A few days later I was standing on Valhalla Ski's small but excellent workshop and was able to see the skis live for the first time. They are definitely visually striking, but that only counts as long as there is no snow covering the matt topsheet. Nevertheless, the appealing design paired with a high-quality surface already gave me the first mental plus point. Once I had the ski in my hand, I had to hold it up more than once. The weight of 1960 grams is really amazing for a ski with a length of 190 cm and a 115 mm waist.

With a little practice and speed, the ski can also be brought to the edge on the piste. Of course, the ski is not made for hard slopes and classic carving on this type of surface. However, the high manoeuvrability is also fun on the piste.

The last showpiece discipline that Freddy uses to advertise the ski's strengths is "chopped up". According to Freddy, the ski is fitted with bamboo slats glued on edge, which are said to produce outstanding flexing properties. After the first descents on already well groomed north-facing slopes, I can clearly confirm what the manufacturer promises with 10 out of 10 points in choppy conditions. With the pop typical of bamboo, the ski is agile and playful, but if necessary it pulls unperturbed through choppy snow as if on rails. The shovel is reinforced with flax fibres to ensure balanced handling and good tracking stability. 

In conclusion, I can say that whether it's fresh deep snow or old chopped-up snow, whether it's narrow forest descents or wide slopes, the Valhalla 115 Bamboo finds its way and is a lot of fun. You can collect metres in altitude with the ski both on many short Black Forest climbs or in one go on a longer alpine ski tours.

Compared to my previous skis, it is definitely a more than worthy successor and is right at the top of my list of favourites.

Here is the link to the Valhalla website with further information