old volkl P series skis: what's your favourite?

[cloudymind]

hi
i'd like to try something vintage, my old TUA GS are quite mid-level skis of the '90s. i should put a pair of new bindings and do the edges, don't know... i'd like to try a better ski from the same age.
i remember the volkl P series was cool when i was a child, now you can easily find on line for a few €. p9 p10 p20 p40 seems to be the most common models. i looked for infos on line but didn't find much.
i'm not even sure of the difference between SL and GS of the time also maybe i remember volkl because were very colored even the old zebra ones.
what model do you prefer?

 

[KingGrump]

Had many pairs of Volkl in the '80s & '90s. First pair was a P9 RS (red). Went through couple pairs. The yellow P9 SL were fun. My last pair was a pair of preproduction P20 RS Super in spring of 1995. Really fun ski.

Good fun trip down memory lane but wouldn't waste the time and effort to get them back out on the hill.

 

[cantunamunch]

Don't forget the p30, the first true p-shape!

With the p40 you're already climbing OUT of the 90s.

 

[Nobody]

The ones I own(ed)
P9 RS Super - the green ones(two pairs in 205cm)
P40F1 (also two pairs 1x 198cm and IIRC 1x188cm)

 

[cantunamunch]

Green or red P40? I used to love the green with the floating plate, but man, oh man do NOT remove the pin ever or it will permanently distort.

The grey P40Pt was kind of a damp meh ski, but you simply couldn't kill it.

The reds were nice but made the mistake of skiing mine as recently as 2011 - phew, I definitely forgot how much we used to have to steer the tips instead of having them pull into the turn.

 

[Nobody]

White/Red ones, first series.

 

[DanoT]

When shaped skis first came out I worked a weekend on mountain demo tent for a buddy's ski shop and one mid week day I decided to demo the entire fleet myself. These were the days before the high performance skis got shaped (pre P30...more about that ski later).

I lived on the mountain and at the end of the day I skied home in my non shaped 207cm Volkl P10, a ski that tracked true and was very stable at speed and was about as close to an FIS race ski that you could buy off the rack at a ski shop. Well now I'm skiing the P10 and thinking: "This is the most difficult ski to turn that I have been on all day, I better sell these things while I still can." So I did.

The following season Volkl came out with their high performance Orange P30, shaped Race Carver, so I got a pair. These were a great ski but they had a problem of being easily bent, so Volkl in Canada (I don't know about elsewhere) added an extra year to the one year warranty. They didn't promote this and only told the ski shops about the secret extended warranty. Mine didn't bend but I sold them after 2 years, just in case.

I later got a Volkl Mantra, but my fav P series was definitely the P30.

 

[Nobody]

Here I am skiing the red P40F1 198cm, nearly 21 years ago...

 

[cantunamunch]

Yup, remember my P10 RS very well

 

[KingGrump]

Never had the P30 or P40. Moved to Atomic after the P20.

Did had a pair of P10 SLC. The shop owner didn't wanted to sell the ski to me. Mumbled something about not enough ski. Split the ski under the binding after 20 days. Could put my entire hand through the split.
Got a warranty replacement several week later. The shop owner won't give me the replacement SLC. Instead he gave me a new pair of P10 SL in exchange. By then I was on the new P20 RS Super. Amazing ski.

 

[Nobody]

Yeah, I know at least two persons who broke their P9s. One broke a P9RS Super exactly like mine. Another, a close friend, broke his P9 RS (the pink ones IIRC).

 

[ScotsSkier]

Yes, I had a pair of 207 P9 RS race stock that came from a British team member (1989 IIRC). Awesome skis at the time, used them for 5 years, including heli-skiing in Valdez with Coombes and Conway! Finally one started to delay at the tails so I riveted and epoxied it back together. Then moved to a 96 203 P20 RS and a 200 97 P20 SL. Still good skis but never had quite the magic of that P9

 

[cloudymind]

thanks for the infos
i'd like to try for fun. but also because i think that using different skis is useful for developing skills, sometimes here we have a "vintage saturday" it's really interesting. i really like my modern GS and will need to buy a new pair, seems like the season started quite well so not really sure if mine would reach the end of it.

 

[Nobody]

Green or red P40? I used to love the green with the floating plate, but man, oh man do NOT remove the pin ever or it will permanently distort.

The grey P40Pt was kind of a damp meh ski, but you simply couldn't kill it.

The reds were nice but made the mistake of skiing mine as recently as 2011 - phew, I definitely forgot how much we used to have to steer the tips instead of having them pull into the turn.

thanks for the infos
i'd like to try for fun. but also because i think that using different skis is useful for developing skills, sometimes here we have a "vintage saturday" it's really interesting. i really like my modern GS and will need to buy a new pair, seems like the season started quite well so not really sure if mine would reach the end of it.

Me too, I skied, not the P40F1 but a pair of Salomon's GS skis bought at a ski swap about 10 years ago, in 184-186 IIRC, were of a newer generation than the P40F1, but badly beaten. As @cantunamucnh says, it was weird to get on those and try to ski them as with more modern skis. Now you got me curious, both P40F1s have been laying in the basement for years...maybe is time for a (very cautious) round of two....

 

[cantunamunch]

^ Talking of Salomon, I got rid of the MRRs on the Volkls and put on some PowerAxe / 916. Zero regrets.

 

[Nobody]

Both, err ,all four old Px skis have Salomons on them. The two P9 pairs , 957; they are identical pairs. The two P40F1 pairs, one has a 912 and the other a 900. Loved Salomon bindings of that decade (1992-2002).
Oh!!! Now that I think of it, I also have a pair of Gray Orange PX0s (need to check, don't remember if those were last generation P40 or P50)!!!! Also bought at a garage swap, with Marker bindings...never skied them. Never succeeded in finding a pair of SLs, though...

 

[cloudymind]

i bought a pair of p20 SL, they are in great shape overall. i hope to test them soon.
the marker bindings look functional but i'll have them checked, also have to adjust to my length so don't know if i have to re-drill or maybe i can replace with a pair of modern bindings i can recover from my rossignols.
i'll bring them to a shop, edges are great, don't know if they used harder steel back in the day.

 

[EricG]

Volkl G41 was my first & last set of Volkl’s.

 

[Ogg]

I had a pair of P50 AMPs that were my intermediate transition to "expert" skis at the time(late '90s/early 2000s) until I bent one just in front of the toe of my bindings at Big Mountain, MT(currently known as Whitefish) at the end of my second to last day. My last day was a refrozen mess of boilerplate with interspersed shark fins so I rented/demoed a pair of 157 SLs on the shop guys recommendation. They were an enlightening experience that makes me want to try a pair of modern FIS SLs.

 

[cantunamunch]

i'll bring them to a shop, edges are great, don't know if they used harder steel back in the day.

There were both harder and more corrosion resistant edges in the 90s, but the standouts on both those fronts were difficult to sharpen by hand.