Trying to pull the trigger on a quiver ski, some one help me out!

B

Bigwhale

New member
I have had a ton of skis in my past but now that I'm pushing 30, my days of park laps are in my rear view. I still have a pair of moment reno's and a new pair of arvs from last year if I wanna go upside down in the park. I found myself having trouble holding a hard edge and really throwing all my weight ( and confidence ) in to my arv's. I demo'd about 6 pairs of solid all mountain skis last year and found that the new mantra is a savage ski and I had no speed limit with it and was not afraid to get as low as possible. I was dead set on those but then I see the new line sakana ski and hear all the hype on that and wonder if any one has any input on these? I live in new England so we have a ton of hard cold days and just wanted to know about edge hold. People boast about the playfulness of the sakana and its ability to make great turns and the mantra was great but not very playful.

Any input?
 
The sakana will be more playful but will not have the high speed stability the mantra has and will not rip a traditional carve nearly as hard. If you are looking to pull a racer carve and not a surfer carve get the mantra, if you want to surf carve and not race carve get the sakana
 
The Sakana and Mantra are very different.

They both carve very well, but the Sakana feels most at home when conditions are somewhat soft and/or consistent. It's much lighter than the Mantra, and doesn't stay as composed at high speeds and particularly in rough snow.

So if you want to charge all over the mountain, I'd go Mantra.

If you want to carve up the mountain, want something a bit more playful, and are willing to slow things down in moguls and off-piste, then the Sakana could be a better option.

I absolutely love the Sakana, but I think of it more as a ski that I'd add as a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th ski in my quiver, rather than something I'd use for everything.

If you want a more playful Mantra, I'd highly recommend checking out the J Skis Masterblaster. It offers all of, if not more stability, but it's got a more playful feel than pretty much any heavy, directional,

**This post was edited on Oct 26th 2018 at 10:09:17am
 
I'd take the Mantra over the Sakana any day, as the people above have said the Sakana is a much more playful (short turning radius) ski but it will shine mostly in softer conditions. Now that Volkl went away from full reverse camber and back over to traditional camber the ski is the beast it is famous for again, at demo days it was a hands down favorite by everybody in my shop.... only to be rivaled by the Black Crows Daemon (which is also a sweet ski that offers unlimited speed).

I think it all comes down to your preference in style, the mantra is going to be a hard charging shred stick that will fucking rail through anything you put in front of it... the Sakana is like a paintbrush who rather than speed is looking for finesse and delicately placed turns. Also keep in mind that the Sakana's longest length is a 184, so if you are a tall guy that's going to further polarize how these two skis feel.
 
13954294:NightFantasies said:
I'd take the Mantra over the Sakana any day, as the people above have said the Sakana is a much more playful (short turning radius) ski but it will shine mostly in softer conditions. Now that Volkl went away from full reverse camber and back over to traditional camber the ski is the beast it is famous for again, at demo days it was a hands down favorite by everybody in my shop.... only to be rivaled by the Black Crows Daemon (which is also a sweet ski that offers unlimited speed).

I think it all comes down to your preference in style, the mantra is going to be a hard charging shred stick that will fucking rail through anything you put in front of it... the Sakana is like a paintbrush who rather than speed is looking for finesse and delicately placed turns. Also keep in mind that the Sakana's longest length is a 184, so if you are a tall guy that's going to further polarize how these two skis feel.
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I'm 6'1" and love when I am able to ride really hard. I feel like if it was soft conditions and I wanted to be playful I could grab my arvs and slay those around I find those very fun. But being in New England where snow is mostly hard I would just like a really powerful ski so I could ride really aggressive. I have other skis that I could ride freestyle I don't truly need a twin tip I just haven't ridden every ski out there and I know how the monsters ride I just wasn't sure if there was other things comparable. I did see those black crow skis and was researching on those as well
 
13954359:Bigwhale said:
I'm 6'1" and love when I am able to ride really hard. I feel like if it was soft conditions and I wanted to be playful I could grab my arvs and slay those around I find those very fun. But being in New England where snow is mostly hard I would just like a really powerful ski so I could ride really aggressive. I have other skis that I could ride freestyle I don't truly need a twin tip I just haven't ridden every ski out there and I know how the monsters ride I just wasn't sure if there was other things comparable. I did see those black crow skis and was researching on those as well
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Ahhh ok if you are on the east coast I'd definitely go for the volkl's any day. I also wouldn't discount the Kendo's as well, if you are looking for more of a groomer/charger ski.

As far as the Daemons go I was really impressed by what they were able to do. I was hesitant at the idea of a full rocker carving/charger ski but it really does work beautifully for turn initiation and arcing out big long carves. That and the Mantra were the only ski I rode on demo days that I just literally couldn't find a speed limit for, I found myself going a lot faster than I was comfortable with VERY quickly. If you are putting the two against each other the main difference is going to be that the mantra will give you a good pop in and out of turns, whereas the extra edge contact on the Daemon is really going to lock in your edge for days which could be real helpful on bulletproof ice.

Sorry for the wall of text by the way, not trying to sound like a know it all or anything.... I actually just really enjoy nerding out on gear haha.
 
13954416:NightFantasies said:
Ahhh ok if you are on the east coast I'd definitely go for the volkl's any day. I also wouldn't discount the Kendo's as well, if you are looking for more of a groomer/charger ski.

As far as the Daemons go I was really impressed by what they were able to do. I was hesitant at the idea of a full rocker carving/charger ski but it really does work beautifully for turn initiation and arcing out big long carves. That and the Mantra were the only ski I rode on demo days that I just literally couldn't find a speed limit for, I found myself going a lot faster than I was comfortable with VERY quickly. If you are putting the two against each other the main difference is going to be that the mantra will give you a good pop in and out of turns, whereas the extra edge contact on the Daemon is really going to lock in your edge for days which could be real helpful on bulletproof ice.

Sorry for the wall of text by the way, not trying to sound like a know it all or anything.... I actually just really enjoy nerding out on gear haha.
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Don't you apologize! I need that type of info. I rode demo blizzards, rossi, nordics and volkl and the volkl stood out the hardest. I'm the last person who would want to be on a "old man ski" hence why in a way I'm looking for something else that stacks up to it that looks better but dang it just rips. I have a new pair of griffins to put on them once in get them if i commit to getting them
 
13954443:Bigwhale said:
Don't you apologize! I need that type of info. I rode demo blizzards, rossi, nordics and volkl and the volkl stood out the hardest. I'm the last person who would want to be on a "old man ski" hence why in a way I'm looking for something else that stacks up to it that looks better but dang it just rips. I have a new pair of griffins to put on them once in get them if i commit to getting them
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Who cares what they look like if you love how they ride. The topsheet isn't hideous or anything.
 
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