Völkl

There are a few new developments in the ski sector that should be of interest to PowderGuide readers. In addition to a few new touring models, most companies have tidied up their freeride portfolios. Roughly summarized, most of the new top models come in medium widths around 105mm, with Titanal for lift-assisted skiing, as well as without Titanal and in similar, lighter versions as touring models.

Just like last year, the ski brands represented at the trade fair are becoming fewer and fewer. After the absence of the major Amer Sports brands Atomic and Salomon (and therefore also Armada) since last year, Black Crows, for example, is now also missing.

Völkl promises "the optimum balance between ascent and descent performance" for the VTA 108. This balance between low weight on the ascent and stability as well as maximum length and width for the descent has been the holy grail of freeride ski manufacturers for a few years now. We tested whether Völkl has found the holy grail with the VTA 108.

With the Confession, Völkl has been offering a real big mountain ski since the 16/17 season. 117mm under the binding, a titanium strap and a stiff shovel make the Confession a casual high-speed toy. You can read about how the ski performs in detail here.

The new products in the ski sector are very limited this year, as is the number of manufacturers still represented at ISPO. Amer Sports (Atomic, Salomon, Armada) was no longer at the trade fair this year and other companies are also exercising more and more restraint in terms of their stand presence.

"A true all-rounder with unique 3D.Ridge technology for the best stability and liveliness on and off the slopes." This is how the 90EIGHT is described by Völkl and I tested the ski for precisely these characteristics (all-round suitability on and off-piste).

As was to be expected, there are hardly any innovations or groundbreaking new products in the ski sector for the 2017/18 season. Ultimately, almost all manufacturers are taking up the ideas from previous years and presenting them in the form of further expanded freetouring series. They try to differentiate themselves from one another through various lightweight construction methods and sometimes incorporate complex designs into the ski structure, or offer a cheaper price point or entry-level model. Flagship models are given an asymmetric sidecut with an asymmetric tip design, which is presumably a foretaste of the ski design in the coming years. As we saw last year, powder twin tips continue to die out for many major manufacturers. There are more and more directional, lightweight skis with center widths of 90-110mm or for "bad snow".

Who doesn't remember this experience? With neon-colored action paint on my face, I see a huge hill of snow in front of me. To my right is another hill and to my left a whole bunch of these hills. It's the early 90s somewhere in the Pitztal at the end of a great day's skiing and I'm sinking into a sea of head-high mounds of snow. Which way should I go, right past left past right, or just over it - damn, these hills are just too big. Later, my father explained to me that this descent was a mogul slope and that this was the supreme discipline of skiing.

Next week sees the launch of the Marker Kingpin, not only one of the most interesting products of the season in the ski touring sector, but also the first major manufacturer of ski bindings to enter the rapidly growing and increasingly competitive market for Pintech bindings. We have already briefly tested the Kingpin for you.

At ISPO, all manufacturers present their innovations - or not. Read about the new products in the ski sector.

The bedrock of powder skiing history. When the Völkl company brought out its widest ski to date for the 1993/1994 season, it was not only so wide that it was practically exclusively intended for heliskiing in North America, it could not even be pressed in pairs as is usually the case with skis, the existing presses were simply too narrow.

At ISPO, all manufacturers let their innovation cats out of the bag. Read about the new products in the ski sector.