Julie Kennedy
Shop for Voilé skis here.
Guest blogger Julie wrings out the Voile V6 just a few days ago.
Spring has sprung here in the Colorado Rockies. Time to put those big fat boy skis to bed and get out the moderate width lighter weight planks for enjoying boot-top powder and velvet corn.
Deep, blower face shots are indeed the dreamiest and my all time favorite ski turns, but it’s hard to complain about skiing in a light shell, baseball hat, and rippin’ carving skis.
Your guest blogger, testing V6 touring skis where they should be tested — in the varied snow of the backcountry.
When asked to be a part of the WildSnow Girl ski testing, without hesitation I jumped on board and took out a pair of Voilé V6 in 163cm length and 97mm underfoot.
Voilé V6.
I began my testing by skinning up and skiing on a local resort hill. Goals: Evaluate weight and swing on the uphill, then tune into the performance on the down. Weight vs. performance — always the big dilemma when purchasing alpine touring skis. Lord knows the going up isn’t getting any easier for some of us — if the ski down makes you giggle with enough joy, you go right back up for that second lap. That’s what happened here.
Voilé V6 weighs 1345 grams per ski which translates into 5 lbs/15oz. per pair. Having skied all winter on my fat powder boards which were 112mm under foot, and weighed 1450 grams, the Voilé V6 felt quite a bit easier on the uphill.
The ski down on the V6 was a surprise. I was able to run these skis at a much higher speed than I have ever allowed myself on an alpine touring skis. I was blown away by the overall performance of these planks. Edge control from ski to ski was right there, deliberate, with zero chatter, tip to tail. It was all about throwing my hip into my turn and letting the ski just rebound into my next turn. The feeling was magical, I do not exaggerate.
Being super psyched on the way Voilé V6 skied, I opted to take them to our backcountry ski cabin for a test in “real” conditions — the good, bad & the ugly. And yes, we experienced all conditions from wind blown blower plate, to breakable wind crust, to dreamy cream cheese.
My take away was pretty simple: “trust.” I fully trusted the V6. I felt I could rock this ski in any condition. Need I say more?
Admittedly, 1345 grams is not the lightest 97mm x 163 cm ski on the market, but given its excellent performance on the downhill, the bit of extra heft is acceptable. And perhaps most impressive about the V6 (and Voilé in general) is the cost. MSRP for the Voilé V6 is $695 and end-of-season sale prices may drop even lower. A bargain worth considering.
For more, read WildSnow’s previous review of Voilé V6. V6 has been in play for a while now, with no reports of undue fragility or other issues that rise in “consumer testing.”
Shop for Voilé skis here.
Length tested: 163 cm.
Weight: 1300 grams per ski.
WildSnow weight/surface score of 75, which is below average and similar to many other top quality skis that are optimized for touring.
(WildSnow Guest blogger, Julie Kennedy, former owner of Climbing Magazine, founder of the 5Point Film Festival and terrific skier — WildSnow Über Girl!)
Beyond our regular guest bloggers who have their own profiles, some of our one-timers end up being categorized under this generic profile. Once they do a few posts, we build a category. In any case, we sure appreciate ALL the WildSnow guest bloggers!
