Volkl Shiro Review
The Volkl Shiro is another aggressive big mountain ski with new graphics for the 2013 season. The Shiro is pretty wide underfoot at 119 mm, and it’s rockered along the whole length of the ski, so this is very much a ski designed for powder skiing. The company claims that its profile means that it’s not completely unmanageable on hard packed snow and pistes, and it seems that many reviewers agree; it has won numerous awards. The rockered design and width underfoot make for incredible float in the deep stuff, and they’re surprisingly nimble and easy to turn for their size. What makes them manageable on hard packed snow is that they still have a decent amount of sidecut (look at the stats below) so when you’re putting some power down on the edge there is full contact along the length of the ski.
Volkl’s big mountain skis have a multi-layer wood core, with hard, dense ash in the middle of the ski (all the better for screwing bindings in to) and softer poplar in the tips and tails for flexibility and bounce.
The ski comes in four lengths, 173 cm, 183 cm, 193 cm, and 203 cm, and they all share the same profile stats of 151 – 119 – 135, with the 183s having a 26.4m turning radius.
Volkl themselves describe this as a ski for fast, wide turns in big mountain conditions, for advanced and expert skiers.
Strengths
- Incredible float in deep powder
- Nimble and easy to turn in soft snow
- Able to cope with a variety of big mountain conditions
- Not terrible on piste
- Full rockered tips and tails mean that it’s easy to ride switch
Weaknesses
- This is not a ski for learners to pose with on piste. They are massive.
- If you’re wearing these on the lift, people will watch you get off, expecting some very good skiing on display.
- They weigh over 2kg per ski – this is not a touring ski!
Click here to check out the latest price for the Volkl Shiro!