By Brand

Volkl Katana Skis

New for '08, the Katana returns unchanged for '09. This is a big, wide ski with a medium stiff flex and zero camber. The target skier is an aggressive big mountain skier with a taste for speed in the steep and deep. I felt the Katana was not quite as aggressive as the hype suggested that it would be. On the only foray into deep snow that I had the chance to try it in, I found the 183 to be nearly as nimble as my 183 Gotama but it was more stable. The 190 is significantly different and more aggressive (and also is the best seller) The zero camber build causes the Katana to feel a little slow and sluggish when outside of the powder and crud but when you are in the goo, this ski really works. It is stiff enough to power bad snow and yet the flex is not overly stiff so that you have to work too hard. There is some application overlap between the Gotama and the Katana. For my tastes, I think that the Gotama has more all around usefulness whereas the Katana is a better deep snow tool. The Katana sits on the fence between "big mountain" and "powder specialty" We chose to categorize this as a specialty ski only because we think that the Volkl buyer looking for a fat everyday ski is far more likely to buy a Gotama.