Volkl: Gotama Ski (Men's Skis)

[tgr pro]

<h3>Gotama Ski (http://www.tetongravity.com/proshop/gotamaski_VKL0054.html)</h3><p><em>When Volkl completely redesigned the Gotama, skiers around the world felt the shockwave for days. Luckily the result is a ski worthy of the name.</em></p><p></p><p><img src='http://content.backcountry.com/images/items/medium/VKL/VKL0054/ONECOL.jpg' ></p><br />Gear Pro Shop (http://www.tetongravity.com/proshop/gotamaski_VKL0054.html) All Volkl Gear (http://www.tetongravity.com/proshop/brand-volkl.html)

[tahoebalf]

I had heard controversy about the amount of rocker, etc. I recently tested these in varying conditions ranging from hard plate, wind crust, dust-on-crust bumps, to 12" of mid-weight powder. Tight trees and chutes to wide-open terrain. My goal was to find conditions that would make them fail.

I am about 180 pounds, 6'2". I chose to ride 178's, which is shorter than I normally ride, but I was looking for something to go through tight trees.

My overall impression is that they allow you to charge like nothing else in just about any snow condition short of race-course ice. Even on groomers they rail on edge. Like any rockered ski they are a bit squirrelly when straightlining a groomer at high speed, but not too bad.

The outcome: I immediately bought a pair. I am thinking about buying a spare pair just in case Volkl stops making them.

[rocker6666]

got to demo them this winter,was dissapointed,not near as fun as the older black ones which i loved,albiet easyer to turn,they lacked a certain weight or burlyness,and felt squirrely compared to my xxl 194's......

[Big Snowballs]

they lacked a certain weight or burlyness

Very interesting you say that now I wished I had tried the older Gotama's just so I could have compared them.

I skied the new Gotama last winter at Alta and I found the experience absolutely incredible to the point that they are on my "next thing to buy list". I found them to have the perfect weight and burliness and it took only 2 runs on the grooms to tweak its potential. In the Crud and Powder they had an intuitive feel and this allowed me to Ski harder and faster with minimal leg burn without having to back off on any situation. :):):)

I give this Ski:
8 out of 10 Grooms
9 out of 10 Crud
10 out of 10 Resort Powder

[Captain Anal]

got to demo them this winter,was dissapointed,not near as fun as the older black ones which i loved,albiet easyer to turn,they lacked a certain weight or burlyness,and felt squirrely compared to my xxl 194's......

haven't been on the new ones but skied those older black ones you're talking about for about half a day. those damn things are noodles. maybe they're good skis if you like to go slow. had to work way too hard to remain centered on them.

[SgtSkidmark]

New ones are a great ski but not worthy of the name IMO. I have 2008 190s (gold) and they are the ultimate one ski quiver. The handle everything well, including icy chutes and GS ripping back to the lift. Admittedly, I only skied the new ones for about an hour, but their performance on hard stuff is meh. Less racy feel, no pop. Better in powder and tight trees, worse in crud and hard pack. At least the mantra still has camber....I'll be replacing them with P100s when/if they die.

My $0.02.

[Skin2Win]

I bought a pair of 194s on impulse - they were the only size available. I'm 33 y.o., 6'1" and 185-190 lbs. with two aftermarket ACLs. This is my first ski with rocker of any kind. I was afraid they would be a little much for my slowing-down ass but after a couple of days in variable conditions I can say these things are a blast. Much easier to turn than I would have thought. Really stable at speed, tough to knock off line in crud. No problem getting an edge on hardpack, which was one of my big concerns. They do great in tight trees and I even managed to get a little zipper action working in the bumps. I think the rocker makes for easier turning but the 194 length gives them added stability and edge security. A buddy of mine has the 186, and I am itching to try them. The 194 is pretty heavy and since it has the same width measurements as the shorter lengths, it has a longer turning radius. Makes me wonder how great a slightly smaller, turnier version would be. My only gripe is that the shovels knock around when straightlining hardpack, making it easy to imagine twisting a knee. They like to always be turning, which is OK because I learned to ski in the 80's, so I like turning a lot, too. Overall, these things are freaking amazing and I can't believe how much more skiing I can pack into a day with the way these skis just plow through everything painlessly.

[TNThor]

I had the 2008 (ripped the binders out...common) and got the 2009's through warranty. They have been my PNW one ski quiver for several years now. Tied out the new "Gotama" several times now, which IMO is not a Gotama at all, and was sick to my stomach. how could Volkl ruin their best selling, award winning ski, and replace it with this bastard child? In comparison, the new goat sucks big fat donkey balls!!!

[TDXIII]

Super versatile ski!

[fengshan]

:tongue:

[Arcava]

I'm 183cm (6') and 74 kg (about 160 lb), got the 186 Gotamas with griffon 13s on this season, size feels absolutely perfect!

I've had them in powder for 2 days now and really love them, can get through pretty tight trees, good stability on park jumps and off small cliffs as well, double eject trying on anything up towards medium height so far so getting the bindings adjusted in

Havent had a chance to take them to any high speed off-piste but om groomers they handled pretty well, carve well as soon as you get some speed up as well, might post more once i get to try them out more!

[Arcava]

Not too much stability straightlining hardpack.... but thats to be expected with a midfat rocker ski i suppose :D