I reviewed few new skis from Völkl last spring. This is the final post of the four part review series. The first one was about Völkl Katana (183 cm.), the second was about Mantra (177 cm.) and the third post was about Tigershark 10 FT Power Switch (175cm.). In this post I discuss about Gotama. The review was done on last spring in northern Finland as soon as these skis were available. Check out the review conditions and skier details from the first post of this series.

190 cm. Gotama

I’ve only got to ski this beauty really briefly but I’ve rocked 06/07 Gotamas for a season now, and what I’ve heard from the Völkl rep (and also felt myself), the ski is essentially the same for 07/08 season. Only the golden Budha design is much cooler IMHO. And besides, white pow skis are kind of stupid invention anyway…

Otherwise, what can I say. Gotamas rock. The 190cm model is maybe a tad long for our (Lapland) mole hills but perfect for me in the Alps. (Btw. I put the bindings in 1,5cm + position from the FR line, which seems also perfect solution for me)

I never got to test the earlier black Budha Gotama but everybody seemed praise it. The newer ones are about 10~15% stiffer throughout the ski. Herein lays my only complaint for the ski: it could be just a tad softer actually, especially in the tip. On the other hand, these destroy the crud too without being total tanks like some even stiffer and beefier skis (like my old Head Im 103’s at 193cm, those had only one speed: full ahead, and if you were tired or lazy, they just killed you, no questions about it). On newer Gotamas there’s just enough sidecut for lazily “rolling” from edge to edge on the groomers but still not too much of it for the tricky off-piste situations. Pretty perfect mix of characteristics you need in the all-day, every-day big mountain skis and you can still enjoy the groomed slopes back to the village/hotel/your car etc. I guess every skier who wants to ski in a place like e.g. Chamonix needs a ski just like this. Maybe, just maybe, the newer more radical designs are even better on the really deep stuff but the versatility of these skis is what makes them the real winner.

This article was written by Janne but published by Marko because Janne, the proud father, was busy with kids while ladies took it relaxed..