Hi guys,
thought it may be helpfull to some to do a partial review of the volkl mantra (133/96/116, length 170) and compare it to the monster 82 as a lot of people are familar with that ski. Not a true comparison as the 82 has less girth.
Weight 165, 5' 11. Boots - head s12, world cup zip fit liners plus footbeds done by one of HH's guys. I own head SS and im 82 both shimmed (aligned by one of HH's guys) - obviously a head fan. IM 82 - length 172.
Terrain - north face of crested butte, 5" of fresh - lots of extreme terrain, steeps, trees, chutes, moguls plus some blues and black groomers. I say partial review because I only demoed the mantras for one day even though I was at CB for 3 weeks and skied my IM 82's most days.
Bottom line - the mantras came out on top in the extreme terrain - better in the moguls, easier to turn through the trees and chutes, like a tank through the crud and piled up snow and when I got into some pockets of deep powder handled much better (no surprise with that girth). This ski realy suprised the heck out of me. Rock solid. Downside - if you hit an unexpected bump and you are slightly in the back seat, that stiff tip will really rattle you. Sometimes a bit stiff overall. They hook up really quickly on the groomers - very fast initiation although the monster has the edge here and is better on the groomers (but hey that is what my SS excel in). I was really impressed with the mantra. Bottom line - if I lived in a place like Crested Butte with extreme terrain, I would sell the 82's in a heart beat and go with the mantras. That's a big call coz I really love those monsters.
This is the closest ski I have skied to a powder ski (not a true powder ski coz it is a little stiff) that really works everwhere on the mountain.
Curios to hear if anyone else has demoed them or if you have thoughts on a great powder ski that can ski all over the mountain.
Hope this helps someone
Brendan