Demo Ski Assessment By Our Head Ski Technician "All our demo skis come from the manufacturer and are from the UK ski test pool that is created each season for retailers and journalists and a few lucky customers to test months before release. I assess every pair of skis as they are booked into our warehouse and rate the quality of each ski. All skis are serviced and waxed before we sell them, so we are really looking at cosmetics as we don't buy/sell damaged skis. I also assess skis quite critically and customers that buy demo skis from us often comment how happy they are with the quality received..." - Scott - Owner and Senior Technician
Top Sheets: 70/100
Ski Bases: 85/100
Edges: 100/100
Ski Bindings: 85/100
Summary: This ski has some top sheet scuffs and nicks up near the nose that we will clean up, and a few marks on the bindings, to be expected from a ski used for 3 days testing and as a popular ski to test. The bases will be serviced to a high level and the edges are in excellent condition.
Our Ski Testers Opinion
The ski that just keeps giving every season, this latest version of the Mantra, the M7, offers improved versatility thanks to the 4 radius sidecut and reshaping of the core construction and materials to save weight. Its dependable, fun and adaptable to all conditions but excels in chopped up pistes and off the sides.
Scott - Ski Buyer
Skier Level
Beginner Expert
High Speed Comfort
Low High
Low Speed Comfort
Low High
Groomed Piste Performance
Low High
All-Mountain Performance
Low High
Powder Performance
Low High
Technical specifications for the Volkl Mantra M7 Freeride Skis
Tip and Tail Rocker
Bends up only in the shovel and tail zones, with a camber shape in the middle
Tailored Carbon Tips
In this innovative manufacturing process the new Tailored Carbon Tips are produced by embroidering the individual carbon fibers onto a carrier material. This allows them to be positioned exactly along the stress lines, opening up completely new possibilities, for performance at the front of the ski, which has a decisive influence on the handling of the ski. The stiffness, torsion and thus the skiing characteristics can be specifically adjusted via the fiber thickness and millimeter-precise alignment. In this way, the fibers guide the dynamics to the areas of the ski where they are needed. The visibly integrated Tailored Carbon Tips are light, allow an agile shovel reaction with less effort and quickly build up energy. The Tailored Carbon Tips thus reach a new level of precision, direct tip response and active skiing pleasure.
Tailored Titanal Frame
Volkl's key technology is called Tailored Titanal Frame. In contrast to the previous design, the width of the titanal frame is now adapted exactly to each individual ski length. This results in Tailored Titanal Frames, which are positioned above the sidewall along the tip and tail area of the ski to provide the desired damping and torsional stiffness. The size of the frames is tailored to the skier's height, skiing ability and power. This means that longer ski models have a higher titanal content for more stiffness, more direct power transmission and stronger dampening. The shorter the length, the lower the titanal content, which makes the ski more agile, so that smaller, lighter and less powerful skiers can use the full potential performance of the ski. In addition to the Tailored Titanal Frames, a second, thinner titanal layer is located in the binding area, which gives the ski the necessary strength, but also agility.
4 Radius Drive
A Völkl innovation not yet offered by any other manufacturer. With this technology, Völkl sets a new benchmark for the ability to vary the turn radius and combine easy handling with rock-solid stability. This new design provides maximum versatility for various snow conditions both on piste and off piste, increased stability on hard surfaces, and improved performance on soft snow:
Radius 1: Approx. 20m radius in the frontmost 10 centimetresm, atighter radius only in the shovel to achieve a more immediate response to the skier‘s initial edge movement; maximum precision and agility
Radius 2: Approx. 40m in the area between the shovel and the binding, the open radius in the front part of the ski gives the ski more resistance to disturbances and stability at speed
Radius 3: Approx. 15m in the area under the binding, the tight radius in the camber area provides the ski with more agility even with slight edge movements of the skier, ensuring the necessary buildup of dynamics for short turns and radical carving curves.
Radius 4: Approx. 25m in the area behind the binding up to the ski end, the moderate radius at the ski end ensures controlled and situation-adapted dynamics at the end of the turn and provides optimal support for transitioning into the next curve.