The RTM 84 has become a popular ski among skiers who value frontside carving performance, but want a wider waist width than traditional carving skis. The ski remains unchanged for 2019, with the exception of a new graphic, but still competes with the best of the best in the world of wider carving skis. Volkl uses their 3D.Ridge and 3D.Glass construction techniques in the higher end RTM skis. The 84 and 86 both get the UVO vibration damping system, but the 84 uses steel while the 86 uses Titanium. Steel is a little bit smoother and is known for giving a ski a very quiet, composed feel, while still delivering plenty of power. Although titanium is arguably stronger and more responsive, our testers didn’t find any lack of power or performance in the RTM 84.
Hans von Briesen really enjoyed the RTM 84. So much that we’re going to give you his entire written feedback: “The 84 took to the morning groomer like a revved up motorsports race car. It enjoyed more speed and if I pushed on it, it got stronger. It was a touch slower edge to edge than a few of the narrower waist skis, as to be expected, but could make a variety of turn shapes. A ski for the strong-minded skier that wants a frontside-specific ski.” Although it’s wider than traditional frontside skis, we agree that that’s the best way to think of the RTM 84. Performance on firm snow is where it’s at its best. Hans was testing the 177 cm length.
Marcus Shakun certainly didn’t find a lack of performance in the RTM 84 either. In fact, he touched a few times on the fact that the ski is at its best on the feet of a relatively advanced, relatively aggressive skier. “Really needs a skier to be on top of it or can be overcome by the stiffness.” If you’re up for the task, the RTM 84 delivers awesome performance. Marcus went on to describe it as having “super solid edge hold with confidence at speeds. Digs deep turns into the snow and snaps you into the next turn.” Marcus is a pretty big guy and was also testing the 177 cm length, so it’s nice to see it holds up to someone his size. Because of the strong frontside performance, however, Marcus didn’t find it to be that versatile, saying, “weakness is that it’s not versatile outside of frontside skiing.”
Charlie Roy is another bigger guy who tested the 177 cm RTM 84 and he too found them to have awesome performance for carving up the frontside. Charlie gave it 5 out of 5 for stability and 4 out of 5 for torsional stiffness, great scores for a carving ski. He went on to say, “these skis rail on groomers. These are as damp as a GS race ski and are super stable on edge.” It’s impressive that Volkl has achieved such a damp feel with their 3D.Ridge construction shape and a lot of that is likely thanks to the steel used in the ski. Like our other testers, Charlie did comment that it’s not super forgiving. “It is heavy, but if you are an aggressive skier you’ll have no trouble getting them around.”
We loved David Wolfgang’s reaction to the ski and think it rounds out our testers’ feedback nicely: “RTM stands for Ride the Mountain. Maybe they should say Power the Mountain. This is a powerhouse.” David was also testing the 177 cm length and gave the RTM 4s and 5s in every single category.
If you’re an advanced, aggressive skier that loves carving, you’ll love skiing the RTM 84. It’s pretty much that simple. The wider waist width is also great for variable snow conditions. You don’t need perfect corduroy to lay over perfect carving turns; the RTM 84 will do it through just about any kind of snow.
