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I've owned two pairs of these exact skis..I bought the second pair because they were cheap and I liked the first pair so much. They're very durable, stable, yet fun to play around on as well.
The only pair of park skis I'd recommend over these are the Icelandic Da'Nollies, which are basically a lighter version of these with way cooler graphics. However, I can't comment on their durability, and they only come in 180 which is too short for me.
Performance
-These skis are very stable. Volkl's experience with racing is evident in these skis. The sidecut is perfect and I feel very comfortable carving off jumps with them. Even with my worthlessly dull edges, they still can rail carves in any type of snow except ice. They're great for any all mountian skiing, or even powder under 3'' to 5''.
-I actually think the somewhat stiffer flex is better for butters as well, because I can lean more of my weight into them before the noodle out.
-They're definitley not the lightest park skis out there, but no worse than K2's. The weight pays itself off in durability and stability though.
-The race base is awesome- I don't know why Volkl doesn't advertise this, but they definitely have a race base (or at least all the models with black bases).
Design
Volkl consistently puts a lamer graphic on these skis each year....I don't know why...but the graphics on the '10 model I have aren't too bad, considering they're a picture of a concrete wall. A benefit to the grippy topsheet and subtle graphics is that they don't look like shit after a year of chipping together, like my surface pow skis do.
Value
I got my first pair off an old race proform for $350, and the second pair at a local shop sale for $200. I personally wouldn't pay more than $450 for these, but it's easy to find them for that cheap at the end of the year. Now that I think about it though, I wouldn't pay more than $450 for any pair of skis. Also, the skis have remained the same over the years, except for graphics, so a previous year's model is the same thing for cheaper. Just remember that they'll last you a while.
Fit
I'm always looking for long park skis, so 185 is awesome. Volkl measures short though, so they're not quite 185 cms. However, they're still the longest park ski I've run into.
-Definitely centermount- they ski very well dead center.
Characteristics
After a week or two on snow, they're probably a 7/10 for stiffness. My rossi scratch's (same as S4's) are definitely stiffer (maybe 9/10?). I can butter the walls easily, and if I had any complaint about the skis, the tails could be a bit stiffer for gnarly landings. However, I am 6'3'', 185 lbs and an ex racer, so I like stiff skis.
Durability
10/10. I'm a big guy and I hit a lot of rails. On both pairs I've owned, I severely dulled my underfoot edges down with a file before hitting rails, and on both pairs, I've have something like 15 or 20 edge cracks after a few months- however, none of them will separated or fell out. After a year on my first pair, I came up short trying to disaster a DFD rail and knocked an inch of edge out. Other than that, they're tanks.
I did everything with this ski and loved every moment on them. they were a ski that suited my riding style perfectly and worked really good as a one ski quiver this year for me. I skied everything from 2 feet of pow to big cliffs to spring park skiing on these and they exceeded expectations at everything i did. They had a very fast base and RIPPED. Very nice ski from an awesome company with a proven rep. feel free to shoot me a PM with any additional questions
Performance
The walls performed extremely well in almost all conditions. they obviously excel in the park and lack a little in pow but that's to be expected from a park specific ski. They were very poppy with a nice even flex throughout the ski making it very consistent and also stable at high speeds.
Design
I absolutely loved the graphics on the walls this year, simple look and my favourite topsheet this year.
Value
This product is definitely an amazing product but is definitely a little up there for a park ski. it was most certainly worth it, but it was pretty pricey.
Fit
The fit was absolutely perfect for me. i had no trouble swinging them around and they felt amazing. I am 5"3 and got the 161.
Characteristics
I found that these skis had the perfect flex. they are relatively stiff, but easy to initiate butters on if you know how. they are about a medium-stiff ski .
Durability
I would rate the durability about 9 out of ten. the topsheet was absolutely the most bombproof topsheet EVER (obviously thats cosmetic but still sick). the topsheet doesn't chip at all, just sorta rounds off. The bases are really durable: not one coreshot all season. the only one problem I have had is with the edges. i have a small edge pullout and a few very minor edge cracks (about two). BUT to put it in perspective I am much more rail oriented skier and don't ski jumps very often. so overall this didn't surprise me and or bug me.
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