Volkl’s new Blaze 104 isn’t expressly marketed as a touring ski anymore, and with this year’s re-design the 104mm-waisted ski becomes much more capable inbounds. It's a lightweight freeride ski designed to be equally at home skiing chalky steeps inbounds as it would full-time in the backcountry.
Groomers & Resort Skiing:
The Blaze is definitely a directional ski and prefers to be driven. The interesting quirk of it is that the tip is actually fairly soft, so it's more of a drive it, but not too hard, kind of ski. If you're in the sweet spot, which is pretty large, they will perform pretty well for resort skiing, and in particular on smooth groomers. However, they do have an upper speed limit and if you surpass it, they become a bit of a wild ride, something that our taller testers found in particular. They do have enough backbone for most resort skiers, but these are not one for a very aggressive skier to use in the resort.
Powder & Mixed Conditions:
Splitting the difference between backcountry touring and dedicated alpine performance is no easy feat, but the Volkl Blaze 104 does a solid job. It's quite light but super damp and can handle fairly high speeds in smooth snow. In deeper powder, the subtle rocker lines add float and encourage pivot turns. The wide tip, in particular, helps with float.
While the Volkl Blaze 104 is an incredibly approachable and versatile ski, its one drawback is that most testers found that it had a speed limit, especially in heavy or wet snow. The very large tips tended to get deflected and more than one tester noted they would get tossed into the backseat unexpectedly because of this.
“The Blaze 104 is more than a directional dad ski. It's light nimble and easy to ski, but confidence-inspiring in smooth snow going fast. Would make an excellent everyday touring ski or light inbounds ski for smaller skiers.” - Max Ritter
“This ski is such an amazing blend of characteristics. Pushes through crud like a bulldozer but nimble like a ninja. Amazing light swing weight and active sidecut makes it almost automatic, but does not sacrifice any of the stability that you would from a lightweight ski.” - Dave Frick
Park & Jibbing:
Another big nope in this category from Völkl. Which is fine, it's not what these skis are designed for. Compared to the Mantra and Secret, these are a bit more balanced in the air when spinning or shiftying, but they are so damp they have almost no energy when popped. In general, they are a lot happier on the ground.
Who's it for?
As a solid entry into the one-ski-quiver for the backcountry and resort category, Volkl’s Blaze 104 is equally at home chasing chalky steeps inbounds as it is deep in the mountains skipping through deep powder meadows. It would make an excellent ski to mount a pair of hybrid bindings on and take on a long skiing road trip that involves equal amounts of inbounds and foot-powered backcountry skiing.
Groomers & Resort Skiing:
The Blaze is definitely a directional ski and prefers to be driven. The interesting quirk of it is that the tip is actually fairly soft, so it's more of a drive it, but not too hard, kind of ski. If you're in the sweet spot, which is pretty large, they will perform pretty well for resort skiing, and in particular on smooth groomers. However, they do have an upper speed limit and if you surpass it, they become a bit of a wild ride, something that our taller testers found in particular. They do have enough backbone for most resort skiers, but these are not one for a very aggressive skier to use in the resort.
Skier: Brock Marzolf. P: Carter Edwards
Powder & Mixed Conditions:
Splitting the difference between backcountry touring and dedicated alpine performance is no easy feat, but the Volkl Blaze 104 does a solid job. It's quite light but super damp and can handle fairly high speeds in smooth snow. In deeper powder, the subtle rocker lines add float and encourage pivot turns. The wide tip, in particular, helps with float.
While the Volkl Blaze 104 is an incredibly approachable and versatile ski, its one drawback is that most testers found that it had a speed limit, especially in heavy or wet snow. The very large tips tended to get deflected and more than one tester noted they would get tossed into the backseat unexpectedly because of this.
“The Blaze 104 is more than a directional dad ski. It's light nimble and easy to ski, but confidence-inspiring in smooth snow going fast. Would make an excellent everyday touring ski or light inbounds ski for smaller skiers.” - Max Ritter
“This ski is such an amazing blend of characteristics. Pushes through crud like a bulldozer but nimble like a ninja. Amazing light swing weight and active sidecut makes it almost automatic, but does not sacrifice any of the stability that you would from a lightweight ski.” - Dave Frick
Skier: Lucas Boudreau. P: Hanne Lundin Wallengren
Park & Jibbing:
Another big nope in this category from Völkl. Which is fine, it's not what these skis are designed for. Compared to the Mantra and Secret, these are a bit more balanced in the air when spinning or shiftying, but they are so damp they have almost no energy when popped. In general, they are a lot happier on the ground.
Skier: Mark Valtr. P: Carter Edwards
Who's it for?
As a solid entry into the one-ski-quiver for the backcountry and resort category, Volkl’s Blaze 104 is equally at home chasing chalky steeps inbounds as it is deep in the mountains skipping through deep powder meadows. It would make an excellent ski to mount a pair of hybrid bindings on and take on a long skiing road trip that involves equal amounts of inbounds and foot-powered backcountry skiing.
