2027 Volkl Revolt 121

The 2027 Volkl Revolt 121 gets a graphic change but returns otherwise unchanged. At this width, not surprisingly, it's found squarely in the powder ski category, and among that category, it is surfy, playful, and designed with freestyle influence and modern freeskiing tricks as a focus. It’s a ski you’ll see on the feet of your favorite Volkl athletes in your favorite ski movies. You’ll see it doing wild things like nose butter cork 7s off wind lips in the backcountry. This puts it in more of a specific category—one that relies on deep and consistent snowfalls, so it's not going to be an ideal tool for a majority of ski days.

While there's not a ton of engineering going on here, at least they keep up the effectiveness. Volkl keeps the construction relatively simple in the entire Revolt collection. It’s just a Multilayer Woodcore that’s pressed together in sandwich construction with fiberglass, epoxy, and that’s about it. As we’ve said several times over the years, however, a good shape with a simple wood core can create an excellent ski, and this is a great example of that concept. Volkl also does a good job controlling the flex pattern of these skis through milling of the core to achieve a certain thickness. The Revolt 121, for example, is notably softer flexing than the Revolt 114, which is all achieved through core thickness. The Revolt 121 planes out so easily in deeper snow, you’ll find yourself confidently skiing faster. While it’s not the stiffest ski out there, the way it floats along the top of the snow actually provides a nice amount of overall stability. It's dense, too, so there's a lot of support if you end up getting bounced around by the conditions or terrain.

While the construction is a bit more basic, the footprint of the ski really makes it exciting. When you’re floating along the surface, the shape really comes alive and lets you maneuver the ski with ease. There’s a bunch of drama in the rocker in this ski both in terms of length and splay. That gives it a very surfy, flickable feel as releasing the tail edge is about as easy as it gets in deep snow. There’s also a considerable amount of early taper, so things like nose butter 360s become significantly easier as the ski cuts through the snow without ever feeling catchy. Not to guarantee that you’ll be able to do a nose butter 360, as ultimately it’s still a pretty high-level maneuver in deep snow, but the ski can do it, so you’ve got no excuse. For a ski this wide, it's impressive how much mobility and maneuverability comes along with it.

While the Revolt 121 is not a particularly versatile ski, it’s mainly designed to perform well in deep snow. Whether you live near a resort that receives a lot of annual snowfall like Alta or you’re lucky enough to venture into the backcountry often in search of untouched snow, if you have the appropriate conditions and you want a super fun, playful powder ski, the Revolt 121 is fantastic. While groomers and all-mountain skiing are kind of off the table here, the skis certainly excel in the zone for which they were built.