The Volkl Kenja has developed a following over the past few years among advanced and expert women skiers who want a powerful and versatile all mountain ski. With tip and tail rocker and two sheets of metal the Kenja has both a fun, maneuverable side and a more serious, high speed charging side. The ski’s 90 mm waist width gives it solid ability both on and off the groomers. While it’s not a ski for timid skiers, many of our testers found them to be easier to ski than they had expected. It’s a popular ski at our local ski resort, Stowe, and the majority of our female testers really enjoyed their time on the Kenja as well.
Kristi Brown has had some experience on a 170 cm Kenja before, which makes a lot of sense considering she refers to skiing the Kenja as “like putting on your favorite, go-to pair of jeans. The Kenja fits like a glove, moves with ease, and makes you ski and look good.” For advanced skiers it’s a very confidence inspiring ski thanks to its impressive amounts of stability combined with a relatively maneuverable, playful feel. In fact Kristi gave the Kenja 5 out of 5 for stability, torsional stiffness, as well as playfulness, and it’s also important to mention that Kristi didn’t give it a score less than 4 in any category. She described them as “spunky and reactive.” Wait a minute… that’s how we would describe Kristi, so there’s no wonder why she likes them so much.
Katrine Wolfgang also loved the Kenja after testing the 163 cm length. How do we know? She just wrote “Loved” all over her tester form and drew a line through the “5” column for every single category. Okay, okay, she wrote more than just a series of “Loved.” She went on to describe the Kenja as a “fun ski” that “turns easily” and “feels great letting it run.” The fact that Katrine describes them as fun and easy-turning says a lot about the approachable nature of the Kenja considering its two sheets of titanal metal and relatively advanced target market.
Chloe Wexler was most impressed by the edge grip and torsional stiffness of the Kenja. She tested the 163 cm as well, gave it 5 out of 5 for both torsional stiffness and stability, and commented that the ski felt “stiff and had very low chatter.” She thought it excelled at making “GS turns” and also thought it felt “quick edge to edge”. Chloe is a very precise skier so it’s nice to have her feedback they’re relatively quick. She did say that they prefer making “medium to big radius turns” over shorter turns, but this isn’t a surprise due to the 18.7 m turn radius (at 170 cm) and two sheets of metal in the construction of the ski.
Ali Berlin, who also skied the 163 cm, really enjoyed the Kenja as well and gave it consistently high scores across the board. We think Ali did a really good job describing the ski, so we’re going to leave you with her entire response:
“Solid pair of skis. It was my last run of the day with tired legs in the chop and they were effortless. Absorbed the bounce in the uneven snow and responded well to changes in turn shape throughout the run. A good choice for an advanced skier looking for an adventure on the mountain.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Ali!
