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gear reviews

Gear reviews | Völkl Shiro

The freeride ski from Völkl in a practical test

by Marius Schwager 02/20/2012
There is a new addition to the Völkl freeski category. The Shiro should delight all speed fans who position themselves between the wide Kuro and Katana. A continuous rocker should ensure all-round suitability despite all the hardness and stability. The PowderGuide team tested the Shiro in practical use on the mountain.

The Shiro glides through soft snow like a handmade Japanese combat sword. Once the edge is set, it glides along smoothly. The speed limit is somewhere around Mach3 (roughly estimated) - unfortunately, the test rider was unable to determine the true limit due to wide-cut and therefore slowing freeride clothing - the limit in this test was somewhere around 100 km/h.

The continuous negative camber does not have a negative effect here, as some might fear. Instead, the continuous rocker gives the Shiro a comparatively high degree of maneuverability in direct comparison to similar battleships in this category: whether powder, rutted or groomed slopes.

The Völkl Shiro feels most at home on wide, open slopes when ridden at a decent size, i.e. at least height plus x. In narrower terrain, the massive construction and the associated high weight are noticeable. In narrower forest sections, the skier has to set his turns quite precisely if he wants to ski smoothly and not just slide around. Overall, however, even these excursions that are rather alien to the Shiro are surprisingly easy to handle.

You do need a little more power compared to a modern freeride standard ski such as the Völkl Gotama to make decent turns through dense forest with the Shiro, but with a little care, even this works surprisingly well. We can therefore also tick the "suitability for everyday use" box, albeit with minor restrictions. Unfortunately, the added carbon makes the Shiro only marginally lighter. Long carrying passages should therefore be tackled with other skis if you still want to have some oomph in your legs for the descent. However, a good portion of hardness and stability is achieved thanks to the carbon.

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The medium sidecut (radius) is a matter of taste. On the piste, it helps for giant slalom-like skiing pleasure, but it also means that there are slight penalties in mixed snow conditions due to the occasional tendency to snow up in slushy conditions. Personally, I prefer less sidecut for more drifting. However, this is whining on a high level and just a question of taste, which few freeriders share with me.

"Got Balls?"

Long and big jumps are pure pleasure thanks to the mass and hard flex of the Shiro. Nothing upsets him here. However, you still have to take care of the right direction and trajectory yourself.

The hard tail also provides stability for backseat landings, allowing you to save some jumps that have landed too far back or set turns. A youthful, masculine risk assessment with a tendency to self-destruct could - if you want to - be supported by the Völkl Shiro.

If you really want to, you can also use the Shiro very well on slopes - but I would only recommend this on very empty slopes so as not to scare or even injure any skiers.

Where and when would I prefer to use the Shiro?
Large, wide slopes with lots of cliff potential (Engelberg - Laub and Steinberg, Andermatt - Felsental), deep fresh snow days in good weather.

Where and when would I prefer another ski to the Shiro?
Anywhere where a lot of carrying, walking or pushing is required and the vertical meters per descent are more limited (Arlberg, Hochfügen) or for treeskiing days in narrower forest sections.

Dimensions: 151-119-135 (in mm) (radius 30.1 m) at 193 cm length

Conclusion

A ski to step on the gas! The Shiro will not disappoint anyone who likes to press the accelerator pedal to the floor, likes to jump high and far and is still surprisingly maneuverable for its weight and length. However, you should think twice before venturing out on the slopes, moguls or freestyle. There are better skis for that. The Shiro fits perfectly into the "real men's freeride ski" category and is much more maneuverable and easier to ride thanks to the continuous rocker than many predecessors and competitor skis.

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This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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