The Kanjo 84 sits alongside some giants of Volkl's all-mountain/freeride family; notably the revered Mantra and the highly rated Kendo. Coming in at 84mm underfoot, it clearly marks the entry point of this category, but can it maintain the family name?
Volkl's categorisation may be a little out of the ordinary; all mountain freeride is where the Kanjo 84 sits (along with Kendo, Mantra, and somewhat incongruously, the Katana 108). Whereas all mountain piste now describes the Deacon range. It may not map onto our received wisdom, but it does make sense.
The Kanjo 84 has a glass fibre frame around the nose (whereas its bigger brothers have the titanal frame) and a carbon tip for torsional stiffness. It also continues the piece of German engineering that so enthused in previous seasons - the triple radius sidecut.
Despite its grouping, and a somewhat freeridey character, the Kanjo is definitely piste biased - through dimensions if nothing else. The triple radius design really works and they're super fun for mixing up turns on piste and on hard packed side-country. In general, that feature makes for a very versatile ski. They're not up to much in powder though.
The glass fibre is intended to lessen chatter, but doesn't eliminate it. Nevertheless the Kanjo 84 is a forgiving and confidence inspiring ski. For an intermediate skier it would be a great vehicle to help transition into freeride, and more experienced intermediates will really be able to make them sing!
Buy Volkl Kanjo 84 Skis: £646.99 at Amazon
