I am an eastern skier.Carves a smooth turn on soft groomed. Nice skidded turns on the hard stuff and effortless skiing in the pow.If you search for the soft snow, this ski is a pleasure.

heh. heh. heh. these things rock. absolutely, without a doubt, the sickest skis I've ever owned. or borrowed, rented, or even heard of. I may have only skied on them for one run, and I may have been taken in by how easy it is to skin up a mountain when your skis are this big (yes, get the 130 mm Black Diamond STS skins and a releasable heel for them--you'll be glad you did), but with skiing everything from rime bearings 1" x4", tight chutes with breakable wind crust, windbuff, some moderately-sized airs into who-knows-what, and a little raincrust to finish things off, I'm pretty sure that I've tried them out in just about every type of snow they could possibly suck in, and they don't. Congratulations, Volkl, you did it again. Oh, the Buddha sticker is offensive on a mass-produced ski made by underpaid workers in China, but I chose function over form (and ethics?) this time.

These skis are like a good woman -- no matter how tempted you are to ride something else, something just keeps you coming back. I find every excuse I can to slide these sleek boys out of my quiver.

With almost a 30m turn radius, the Gotamas aren't meant for tight spaces; they are in their element in wide open terrain, preferably floating several feet atop the untracked white stuff.

But don't think these skis are afraid of the groomers. Sure, they aren't lighting fast; but they're a blast arcing powerful GS turns on the cords. It is amazing how much power can be stored and then released in Volkl's solid wood core. And with so much meat underneath, you feel confident in all your landings.

My only complaint with the Gotama is that, similar to a boy on bris, this ski doesn't like to hold a skin.

Don't bother looking any further; these are the ultimate boards for surfing the white horse!

I skied the first Gotama in March 2003 when people could not believe how fat they were - it was a great ski then and continues to this day. I skied this version at Snowbird and BC last winter. They are more "all around" friendly with time due to the evolution in the sidecut, but will not disappoint on their best days - monster powder days! Also, the tail has mellowed, which makes it easier for the people trying to catch you to see as you rip through the powder.

Awesome. thats the only way to describe. super light and stable at high speeds. Suffers on tight turns on hardpack (who cares), but turns on a dime in the freshies and the trees. the best ski I've ever been on. By far. (best paired w/ the Duke)

07/08 183 Some think the 105mm underfoot limits this ski to just pow days, you can take this ski anywhere on piste to the backcountry and have no quibbles about having the right stick for the job. My only issue with the ski is that is has a very thin base and it's way too easy to take a core shot yet the edges are quite bomber they stay intact limiting damage. My favorite ski ever last year used 06/07 used mojo 90, 1080 foil, apache recon, mantra, 04/05 karma. New Goat murder's them all even on the groomers. Just stop making them in china please or give us a 2 year warranty. Makes me want to consider the Katana for my everyday ski, wider is better.

I've had 3 generations of gotamas going back to the Buddha. Thanks to Volkl's great warranty program they keep giving me new ones. I've skied them in every possible terrain and the last two pairs have been used solely as my backcountry setup with fritschis. They're a fun ski, but if you're really going to push a ski in big terrain and you are more than 160 pounds then choose something else. Now that's not everyone- I know this. You'll probably think they're the best ski ever. Glad everyone thinks that because it's helped the resale. Sold my last beat up pair for $600 :)