2022 Volkl Katana 108

The Katana 108 is the widest ski in Volkl’s All-Mountain Freeride collection. At 108 underfoot and with a stiff flex pattern and hefty weight, it’s designed for aggressive skiers who want to charge down steep terrain through whatever snow conditions are in front of them. Crud? No problem. Chatter? What’s that? Skis like this are the real deal and generally require a strong, skilled skier to reach the ski’s true potential. Volkl uses a Multilayer wood core in the Katana 108, which is supported by their Titanal Frame design and Carbon Tips. The Katana 108 is mostly camber, with relatively low-rise tip and tail rocker. Volkl wants to retain strong edge contact with this ski, so there’s not a tremendous amount of splay. We also get Volkl’s 3D.Radius concept, with a short radius underfoot (19 m in the 184 cm length), and longer radii in the tips and tails (39 m and 34 m respectively in that 184 cm length). Those radii in the tips and tails are rather large, indicating that the Katana 108 will be capable of some big, sweeping, high speed turns.

Mike Anglin was psyched to get a chance to test the Katana 108 and opted for the 184 cm length. He noted that length skied a little longer than the 184 stat might indicate, but also that he wouldn’t want to size down. The Katana earned some high scores from Mike, including 5 out of 5 for flotation, stability, and overall impression. The lowest score from Mike was a 3 out of 5 for forgiveness, which isn’t surprising. “I have always wanted to try these monsters, and finally got the chance. The Katana 108 did not disappoint bringing its wide sword and slaying everything I threw at it. Short turns were a bit much, but still felt playful especially when the speeds increase. These quietly blasted through the manky deep corn with no speed limit, and provided a solid, confident platform while doing so. Katana feels at home with wide open spaces, but can be a bit scary when things get tight. Going to reserve this one for the expert-to-expert pro as the Katana is a sword that needs to be handled by the most skillful ninja ripper.” Reuben Jalbert also skied the 184 cm length and had a similar reaction to Mike. Similar scores too, with flotation, stability, and overall impression all earning 5 out of 5 once again. His low scores were a little lower than Mike, however, with playfulness, forgiveness, and versatility dropping to 2 out of 5. “These skis felt about as powerful as it comes for the freeride category. Basically felt like heat-seeking missiles on my feet, which I loved! Enough stability for an elephant. These things exploded through the soft spring bumps. Definitely required a lot of work to get them to come around. Not for the faint of heart, nor legs. These are for those who like to straight line the steepest and the deepest.”

Matt McAlary also hopped on that 184 cm length, which noted felt a little long. He mentioned he would choose that length out west, but here on the east, might consider going shorter. Once again, we got 5 out of 5 scores for flotation and stability, and from Matt torsional stiffness/edge grip also earned those top marks. “This thing is a powerhouse of a powder ski that actually links up on firmer snow quite well. It's a beast that takes quite a bit of effort to tame. Heavy, stiff, and wide, this ski has difficulty understanding the meaning of the words quick and agile, but it's not really designed to be that type of ski. This thing CHARGES. It likes making wide arcs at fast speeds, and as fun as that is, you really can't get complacent or lazy as this ski. I wouldn't say you always need to have the thing on edge, but when you get it up to cruising speed, you better make sure you're in the driver's seat with two hands on the wheel. In terms of terrain, this ski seems best suited to wide open terrain with softer snow where you're able to ski fast. In tight trees or bumps, this ski would be a nightmare for most people.”

We think Matt hit the nail on the head in his assessment. In fact, all of our testers shared similar thoughts about the Katana 108. It’s a beast of a ski that will charge through any snow condition and stays extremely composed at high speeds. What comes along with that, however, is a fairly unforgiving and demanding feel. We don’t often put this kind of disclaimer on a ski, but the Katana 108 is about as close to an “expert only” ski as you’ll ever find.