In my quest to find a complimentary ski to my 175cm Volkl Super Sport 6-Star carve ski and after hearing great things about this ski last year and learning that Volkl didn't change anything substantial about the Mantra for 2008/09 I was pretty excited when the snow started falling this winter. I have to admit that I didn't ski on the Mantra at all before buying a pair of the 2007/08 when I found them for a great deal which is a unlike my normal ski buying habits where I want to try before I buy but the deal was too good to pass up and they were well liked last year. I opted for a pair of 170's with the Marker Griffon bindings as I am 6' 165lbs expert skier, but wanted to stay with a shorter ski length to be able to stomp anything in sight. I also ended up switching out the brake for the 110mm rather than the 90mm brake arm that came with the Griffon bindings I got to provide the needed clearance since bending the 90mm brake arms just wasn't going to work well with these bindings. Some thought the 110mm brake arms would be too wide and hangup on eachother, but I have had no problems with them after bending the inside arms in towards the binding slightly (not even sure if that was necessary but I did it anyway before I even took them out).

Like I said, these are a complimentary ski to my carve ski which I still prefer whenever the conditions get hardpacked or icy, but on a good powder day or even a few days after when it is all tracked up but still cold dry snow I pull the Mantras out and go anywhere and everywhere. They are very different from my carve ski, but then again they are supposed to be and that is why I picked them. As for those who feel the Mantra is a "heavy" ski, believe me these are some of the lightest skis Volkl has made in a long time. Volkl is an enthusiasts ski, not an everyday intermediate skier. Every car or motorcycle enthusiast has their favorite ride and most are not comfortable for just a Sunday drive - same goes for Volkl you either love 'em or hate 'em - I LOVE 'EM!

I tried these pants on in a North Face store but they only had the Medium and XXLarge (way to big for me). The medium fit pretty well, but was too short so I ordered the Large from Backcountry.com. Great pocket placement, very rugged material, I liked the drop seat design for when nature calls, but unfortunately the drop seat design also resulted in one key fit issue for me. They were way too big in the waiste, hips, and thighs. Seems like there was a bigger than normal difference between the Medium and Large. I am pretty average size as I wear a 33waist x 34inseam in most any brand of jean and I am 6' 165lbs. In any event I also had ordered the Cloudveil - Koven Pant in a large which fit much better and has turned out to be a great ski pant without paying the extra $$'s for TNF brand and Recco reflector since I already have one in my jacket and most ski resorts still aren't equiped & trained to get much benefit from the Recco anyway. In any event the TNF Free Thinker Pant was found to be very well made and well thought out, just didn't fit me so I returned it and am just awaiting the credit to be posted to my card. BC.com was very easy to return product also - way to go!