The Volkl Secret is a brand new all mountain ski for 2019 and uses some exciting new construction techniques that we also see in the latest rendition of the men’s M% Mantra. Instead of two full sheets of metal, which we have traditionally seen in a lot of Volkl’s skis, it uses their new Titanal Frame construction. A full sheet of metal still runs along the base of the ski, while horseshoe shaped metal laminates run along the edges on the top of the ski, but do not meet underfoot. The idea is to retain the longitudinal vibration damping properties of metal, as well as strong torsional stiffness, but give the ski a bigger sweet spot and a lighter overall weight. It was easily one of the most popular skis of the test.
Kristi Brown tested a 163 cm Secret and started her comments with, “Volkl playing a little reverse psychology. The Secret that should not be a secret because it’s too good not to share!” Kristi gave the Secret high scores across the board, and had a note to Volkl skiers who might be worried they changed their favorite skis, “Volkl loyalists will love the Secret upgrade! More versatility and forgiveness with classic Volkl confidence and candor.”
Danielle Nichols also enjoyed the Secret. She skied the 170 cm length and gave it 5 out of 5 for stability, quickness, playfulness, forgiveness, versatility, and overall impression. Those are some high scores! “Zippity do da! This was a fun ride: super easy and playful.” That’s really good feedback from Danielle. Considering the Secret uses quite a bit of metal, it’s nice to know it felt relatively easy to ski.
Katrine Wolfgang was another tester to give it high scores after skiing the 163 cm length. She commented that it has “good edge hold” and that it “transitions from firm snow to soft snow very well.” A lot of our testers kept coming back to just how much fun it is, as Katrine described it as “fun and loves to turn.”
Pascale Savard continued the trend of very positive reactions to the Secret. She gave it 5 out of 5 for every single category, except stability, which still got 4 out of 5. She was testing the 163 cm length, so maybe a longer length would’ve garnered a 5 for stability, although 163 cm is about right for Pascale. We wouldn’t be surprised if we see Pascale on her own pair of Secrets next season, as she commented that “these were my favorite today. Very playful and awesome at everything.”
Annie MacDonald reminded us that ski performance is somewhat subjective. She too gave it very high scores, although for Annie it was playfulness and forgiveness that got the only 4s out of 5, a stark contrast to Pascale. Annie “loved this ski.” She described it as “very versatile. Rips on groomers, but floats through crud. Extremely stable, but lively!” Annie thinks it would be “good for aggressive girls that want to rip!”
Susan Dorn had a really nice set of comments about the Secret, so we thought we would include her entire reaction. “Confidence builder! This ski for advanced to expert women can handle it all. A crud buster without even noticing the crud. Easy turning, good edge control, energetic, stable at speed.” What more can you ask for?
Judging by the reactions of our testers, we expect Secret to be one of the most popular women’s all mountain skis for the 2019 season. Volkl has done an impressive job developing their new construction technique and their attention to detail and commitment to high performance skis is extremely prevalent in the Secret.
