Comments on: Volkl Mantra, Gotama, & Bridge

By: Travis

Travis — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:29:13 +0000

I just got back from the Pear Lake Ski Hut in the Sequoias and I used a Gotama/Duke set up. Your review is dead on. We had about 1 1/2 foot of fresh the second and third day we were there. The skis are so perfect for the powder, I didn’t even notice that the snow was a little wet and heavy until others in my group pointed it out.
Coming down “The Hump” yesterday, I struggled with turns in the crust near the bottom. The hill had just had about 8-12 inches that was baked for about 3-4 hours. I cut through the trees and found the soft stuff and I ws back in powder heaven.
Ice was a struggle and turned more into “survival skiing.” The trade off for the performance in powder was worth it, no question.

By: Kris

Kris — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:55:40 +0000

I skied the women’s version of the Gotamas (Kikus) last week. They are brilliant on the powder! I floated with minimal effort and changed the way I skied powder. I no longer had to focus on the up/down motion, but was almost carving the powder. I was really concerned about their on piste performance but had no difficulties. Their performance on icy slopes is not the best, but who wants to ski on that crap anyways?

By: Taylor

Taylor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:25:29 +0000

I ski a set of gotamas as my backcountry ski. They will power through any crud and crap the sierra throws at you(though ice isn’t so nice… so wait until the sun beats it up a little bit). And I’m running them with Marker Baron’s, but hauling that weight up the hill pays off when you’re ripping down through crud.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:52:44 +0000

Hi Andy,
Great review. My only note is that all the great new boards coming out for BC use have turned tails. This is a major pain in the arse when I want to use my skis to anchor my tent, anchor a rope, or create a field-deck-chair (more on my blog about that later next week). So I’ve been looking hard for flat-tailed skis – and right now I only know of two companies producing them (though a third will be coming out next year).
Cheers
Chris

By: Dan Conger

Dan Conger — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:52:58 +0000

I own a pair of AC3′s, myself. Absolutely love them. Tested Solomon, K2, and others. The Volkl just dominated them.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:00:21 +0000

Well, if the new Marker touring bindings were available (Fall 2010) I’d have mounted those. Still, I’m betting I’ll carry the Gotamas up Baldy Bowl at least once…just because.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:40:38 +0000

Awww…I was hoping these were going to get some Dukes or Barons. Probably smart, though, not hauling that ridiculousness up hills.

By: Colin in CA

Colin in CA — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:33:25 +0000

Andy, I think you’ll find that rocker is ideal for the heavy stuff we get in CA. Anything floats in light stuff, but having your tips and tails up out of the snow in manky or crusty snow makes a huge difference.

Skiing Praxis Protests on any day with 8 inches or more changes the way I look at terrain.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:20:41 +0000

Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see how they fare on less than ideal snow. I’m hopeful they’ll do fine in Sierra Cement, though. I mounted them with the Marker Griffons–a lightweight freeride binding that’s not terribly expensive.

Some people believe Rockered skis are more sensitive to mount position. A binding like the Marker Schizo, which allows you to move the binding fore and aft on the fly, might be a good choice also.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:36:39 +0000

Also, between El Nino and visiting CO, seems like you’re forgetting what we usually get to ski on here in SoCal You’ll need to take plenty of trips to get those Gotamas the snow they need!

What bindings are you going to mount on them?