Atomic brings back Volant as a premium brand

[ZomblibulaX]

I worked at a shop that sold a good volume of Volants. I hated when the sales guys sold them. They were a pain in the ass to drill compared to other skis that skied as well or better. And then they would hit something, bend them, and bring them in for warranty meaning I got to drill a second or even third set.

Pretty much guaranteed to burn through a bit with every pair. And if you were lucky you wouldn’t break a tap off in one, fuck they sucked to drill. Back when they had the patrol version of the FX, guys were going through 3-4 pair a year, just box em up and send em back.

[Conundrum]

It seemed like you could call for an RA number without broken skis. They would just answer the phone and new pair would show up. And that bit sucked.. it had that weird bit in a bit that was a few mil shorter and the little bit broke or would need sharpened every or every other ski. Luckily never broke a tap.

I could ski any of them and never did because I was bitter from the back shop work on them.

[Conundrum]

I was that guy that sold those. I worked in a slope side shop and we did demos as well.
They were so silly easy to sell. “Here you go ma’am, try these out. Don’t worry about carrying them back, just have your husband put them in the car, and I’ll charge your card.” The Powerkarve and Vertex Powerkarve were like a license to print money. I sold every one I could get my hands on. For full points. No sales pricing required.
But I also sent a lot back. We were really close with our rep(Gordie i think) and he just told us to send them back and they would replace them. No receipts, no RA, nothing. Just put them in a box and pull a pair off the wall.
I was personally responsible for about a dozen pairs. After the third pair of McG’s I pranged, I stopped skiing on them.


Sent from inside the house

Did you do the pitch where you put the tail where the floor and wall met while twisting them talking about torsional rigidity? “Hey Bogner pants, while your husband is trying on boots, have you checked out how torsionally rigid these skis are...” while Mrs Esterhouse unfocused her eyes so it looked like she was interested in skis while unbeknownst to her hubby, she was checking out the ski bum girth of your thigh and maybe even your package. Women who buy Volants are cock gazers in my opinion.

[Eluder]

Women who buy Volants are cock gazers in my opinion.

This is the only post this thread needs

[AZskibum]

What's so special about them that they sell so well?

[Mudfoot]

Interesting where this thread has drifted. Exactly what makes Volants so sweet is exactly what they are removing in every new model of other skis, a damp smooth ride. You just can't stand on a ski and relax through the turn like with the old Volants anymore. Maybe I'm getting less focused and not wanting to pay so much attention all the time in my old age, but compared to "skiing the steel" almost all new skis seem kind of twitchy and nervous to me. Gotta spend big bucks on Stocklis, Kastles, or a few other select skis to find a truly relaxing ride, but then again not everyone wants to relax when they ski.

[skiing-in-jackson]

An old pair of Volants were stuck in the snow all season outside the Mangy Moose. Sure brought back memories. I was heavily conditioned seeing them all season and now the sight of stainless steel makes me think of cheese pizza.

[Nobody Famous]

There was someone on the late EpicSki with the username Volant Addict. And Yes I think he used to post he actually collected old, user pairs of them.

[El Chupacabra]

There was someone on the late EpicSki with the username Volant Addict. And Yes I think he used to post he actually collected old, user pairs of them.

Didn't Rasputin here collect old Volants too? Maybe that was the same guy.

[waxman]

I was that guy that sold those. I worked in a slope side shop and we did demos as well.
They were so silly easy to sell. “Here you go ma’am, try these out. Don’t worry about carrying them back, just have your husband put them in the car, and I’ll charge your card.” The Powerkarve and Vertex Powerkarve were like a license to print money. I sold every one I could get my hands on. For full points. No sales pricing required.
But I also sent a lot back. We were really close with our rep(Gordie i think) and he just told us to send them back and they would replace them. No receipts, no RA, nothing. Just put them in a box and pull a pair off the wall.
I was personally responsible for about a dozen pairs. After the third pair of McG’s I pranged, I stopped skiing on them.


Sent from inside the house

your rep was probably Keith?
as mentioned a pain to mount, bent like a tree in the wind, would break if mounted more than once, couldn't tell you if they were stable or just locked into a turn until you decided to change direction
had a cult following with the seniors alpine club in Calgary for whatever reason, i hated mounting the stupid things and ended up using a derbyflex bit for most of them

[Mudfoot]

About 15 years ago in Portillo ran into Chilean soldiers skiing at the area for training. The Argentina border was at the top of the pass just past the ski area and their base was at the bottom. They would load the chairs with us with automatic rifles strapped on their backs. They were all skiing on Volant Powercarves with Silveretta bindings. Guess that's where Volant dumped a lot of their stuff when they folded.

[kootenayskier]

Chubbs were revolutionary, the first functional all mountain fat skis, which don’t get anywhere near the credit they deserve. Going from 210cm K2 TNCs to 180cm Chubbs blew my mind. They didn’t hold up to hard use, but for a few years (94 -96) I was one of the lucky few experiencing modern ski performance (while being chided for using old man skis). The Spatula was a minor tweak by comparison, yet gets all the credit by clueless historians of skiing. These new Volants are a pretentious travesty.

[ZomblibulaX]

...Volant Powercarves with Silveretta bindings...

Throw that in the "How heavy is your touring setup?" thread.

I was one of the lucky few experiencing modern ski performance (while being chided for using old man skis).

Yeah, but they were totally old man skis.

I remember when they folded, thinking, what will all the septuagenarians ski now? (Answer: Atomic Metron Beta V)

[rip]

My first pair of fat skis were some 193 mcHucksters that I bought off the board probably powdermag eons ago. They were definitely not old man skis, they f'n trucked, I wanna say they had like a 48m radius. Wish I would have held on to those.. gave em away one spring.

[GoldMember]

There was someone on the late EpicSki with the username Volant Addict. And Yes I think he used to post he actually collected old, user pairs of them.

Didn't Rasputin here collect old Volants too? Maybe that was the same guy.

Yeah, same guy.

[XXX-er]

which were the GS model with the orange flame bases, I thot those looked cool ? My buddy had them and he really loved his so when I found 3 pair at a discount sports place still in the wrapper I called him up and he said buy them all so I got 3 pair on a ridiculous low ball offer might have been < 200 a pair

[GoldMember]

Chubbs were revolutionary, the first functional all mountain fat skis, which don’t get anywhere near the credit they deserve. Going from 210cm K2 TNCs to 180cm Chubbs blew my mind. They didn’t hold up to hard use, but for a few years (94 -96) I was one of the lucky few experiencing modern ski performance (while being chided for using old man skis). The Spatula was a minor tweak by comparison, yet gets all the credit by clueless historians of skiing. These new Volants are a pretentious travesty.

I had a pair of 1st gen 190 Chubbs and just couldn't believe how fat they were but so excellent in powder. I don't remember how fat they were but I want to say...85?? I bent one on a tree stump or rock that I was airing off and still skied them for another year. They were ONLY for powder in my quiver. I never liked them on firmer snow; very little side-cut. I also remember cursing them, in general, as powder days turned into one or two powder runs since everyone was going fat. I still miss the days of a 210 GS skinny ski in powder if only because the powder lasted a lot longer.

[Caucasian Asian]

your rep was probably Keith?

I don’t think it was Keith. He was the BC rep for Dalbello, Briko, and Volant and then went over to Blizzard when Amer took over Volant. I think he was from Vernon.
Then we some guy we called “The Weasel” and we stopped carrying them in any numbers. Warranty claims were harder to get through and they still bent/broke just as easily.


Sent from inside the house