Volkl Chopstick

I was initially inspired to write about my first days on the Chopstick because my experience was completely the oppositve of several negative reveiws I read of the ski, and I'm glad I trusted Volkl despite the reports of not fun, difficult to turn and heavy. I found the it to be the exact opposite. I'm not going to go into detail about why I decided to jump on the reverse-camber band-wagon, or completely describe the characterstics of this particular ski. Suffice it to say that the Volkl Chopstick is a fat powder ski, 128mm wide under the foot with a symmetrical rocker, and really original graphics, and that I decided it was time to give them a try. Among all the reverse camber skis out there, I chose the Chopstick because like all Volkl skis, its a bit stiffer than the rest, and per the recommendation of a couple Volkl pros at the TGR premiere, I mounted the ski nearly dead center with Marker Jester bindings. That said, I can't really compare it to any of the others, since this is the only one i've tried. So instead, I'll just recount my experience with it during two full days at Snowbird. The first day had plenty of soft snow left over from the storm the previous day, and lots of wind blown pockets, yet there was enough firm snow to test the ski in a variety of conditions. The second day was a full-on Snowbird powder-fest. A 3-6 inch forecast materialized into 10-14 inches depending on the slope. Day 1 As soon as I clicked in and paddled over to the Gadzoom lift from my prime parking spot, I knew this was going to be a different experience . The first turns, if you can call them that, were on a groomed blue run. It was incredibly difficult to get the skis up on edge, and even when I did, the slightest bit of crud would catch the giant tips and squirrel them out of control. After a while, I was able to get my balance and carve reasonably well, but it was incredibly tiring and not all that fun. However, when I got to the top of Gad II, and headed for the trees I knew why everyone was raving about reverse camber. The flotation made little 3-4 inche pockets between the trees and moguls feel bottomless. The width along with the rise of the tip, enabled the ski to ride smoothly and confidently over all kinds of crud, powder, and even moguls. To make the tree skiing even more fun the center mount and the rocker made the skis very easy to turn quickly for their size. If I found myself going too fast, a quick smear turn atop a powder mogul dumped speed very easily. Because it hadn't snowed over night, I didn't really find any open areas to linked together turns in untracked snow, but I did find some sparcely tracked steep areas in the clearings skier's right of Gad II lift. Once I found my forward balance over the center of the ski, and learned to trust that the rockered tip would float without having to lean back, I could bomb incredibly fast throug the broken powder, easily hopping on and off terrain features that while covered, still made the terrain more interesting in the early season snowpack. Speaking of hopping, what suprised me the most about the Chopstick was the amount of pop hit had jumping off this and that, even hopping off rollers on groomed runs I got more boost than any other ski I've tried. I also tried skiing switch in wind-blown powder on a groomer, and it was the most effortless switch skiing I've experienced. Day 2 I really hoped I'd get a day like this during my early season trip, and Utah delivered. Wilbere bowl is one of my favorite runs at Snowbird, and it gets tracked suprisingly slowly. By the time I got there, it had maybe one or two tracks in it, but I basically had untracked powder for 700-800 or so vertical. Wilbere probably had a good 12 inches, but I can't be sure because I certainly did not hit the bottom. Fast wide powder turns were almost like doing GS turns on a groomer. I'm sure I have a long way to go learning to smear my turns, but I found that I could easily flare out the tails to control my speed and turn very precisely without having to dig too deep into the powder, which would usually happen even on my Gun LABs. The Gad II trees were of course wonderful on these skis, and I started to experiment jumping off little lips and terrain features. It took me a little while to figure out the best way to land. I few times I had my weight a bit too far forward, and felt my self going over the bars, but the tips did not dive on me, and were very forgiving. Toward the end of the day, the sun came out, providing great visibility in Little Cloud bowl. Little Cloud bowl has about 2 foot vis in a storm day, so it doesn't really get skied all that much until everying clears. So when I got to the top at 3:00, there were tracks, but he snow was still soft and bombable. This was maybe the most fun I had all day. I could just point the skis down the fall line, making wide smooth turns, and felt more in control than I probably was. I would say that the Chopstick handles all sorts of powder conditions as well or better than my Salomon Gun LABs, and the Guns will probably be kept in their holster except when I'm touring the backcountry. This was probably one of my top 5 powder days, and I'm sure skiing the deep stuff will only get better as I learn the nuances of Pep and Pollard's brand of powder skiing. Oh, and did I mention that the skis came with their very own badass actual chopsticks? I can't wait to go to Chef Chang's or Brown Sugar when I get back to Boston.

This is my first experience with a reverse camber ski and so far all I can say is that I wish I would have had them last season. I was really leaning towards the EP pro or the Hellbents, but I was nervous about how soft they are. My other pair of skis is a pair of Gotamas and I love them for their versatility, but I am finding that if there is any soft snow to be skied I prefer to do it on my Chopsticks. I am 5'10 and 160lbs. and I bought the 185. First of all you will notice that this is not a quick turning ski and it takes some effort to put it on edge, but if you are a good skier this won't be a problem. I have found that getting them to the lift after a BC run isn't a bad experience, they hold an edge nicely on the groomers and are predictable. The key here is that they don't really like to do anything unless you are going fast. They like GS turns, but will manage shorter turns if you work them hard. Don't hesitate to buy the 185, they ski shorter than they look. I think my gotama is harder to maneuver in the trees. They really come alive once you get them up to speed and honestly I think the newest thing to me is how fast they like to go in the soft snow, because they ride high and the tips won't dive. For me the days of deep snow limiting speed are over. This ski will go as fast as you let it. I can literally ski this ski in crud and powder at speeds similar to those attained on groomers with GS skis. Switch the skis are easy to ski and very stable. I would mount them in the boot center line and not the core center. The boot center line is much further forward than a "traditional" mount and it skies great there, plus it gives a more surfy feel to the ski.

Honestly, these skis changed my life. I skied for 3 seasons on the Seth Vicious. I loved them, but it was time for some new skis, and I went with the chopsticks. I'm from Utah, and so I ski powder. The shape and camber of the ski make skiing on deep snow as easier than skiing a groomer. Since there is no camber and such a long, gradual rise (the rise starts right outside of the binding on both the front and the back) staying on top of the snow is effortless, going forward or fakie. I sometimes feel like I'm cheating, especially compared to the effort it took to turn my 189 Seths. On my Seths, a lot of effort was used leaning back to stay up, and turning them in anything but the driest of powder was a chore. The Seth Vicious were great for straightlining and GS turns, but maneuvering through tight trees required reduced speeds and more effort. On the chopsticks, honestly, you stand almost upright, like skiing packed snow, and controlling them (i have the 185s) is a breeze even in heavy, march pow. I've been skiing crazy-tight lines that weren't possible before!!! Skiing groomers isn't that hard in them either. You just have to be going fast and work hard to put them on the edge. It's not that bad though. FYI: I mounted them 1.5 cm behind the true center, and I feel good about it.

If you need a fat ski that will respond well with speed these are the ones for you. The reverse camber is not overly exaggerated which still allows for solid handling on the hard pack. For a wide reverse camber ski they are stiffer than most and will blast through any chop or crud you throw at them. I should mention that I have these Telemark mounted and as a Tele ski these are great at speed (they really do not handle well as a tele ski at slower speeds) If you go fast in pow get em' you wont regret it.

this ski kills the pow, as mentioned in other reviews, you have to ski them fast and hard just like you would a groomer. they stomp big landings with ease, and float tight straights, and thread trees. you can do smears, butters and ski switch no problem. choped out bowls and crud are no problem the tip just puts every thing below the ski. they ski pretty well on groomers and runouts, not so good in bumps but who cares this is a powder ski.

Rode these all last year all over Utah and couldn't help but love them. I am a really light kid at about 150 pounds and ride the 185's. It's a lot of ski but these things shred groomers just as well as they do pow. There's enough rocker to keep your tips and tails up and they do great on any sort of Backcountry booter. Overall a great ski.

This ski is truly made for backcountry jibbing. It is not made for traditional skiing. If you don't plan on skiing switch or landing switch, I would recommend the Kuro over the Chopstick. If you are used to a more traditional ski and mounting point, this ski is going to feel really weird.

Absolutely loved mine. I do a lot of BC here in UT and not only does it charge, but it isn't as noodley as the hellbent or jj on groomers. Great ski.