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Gear Review | Valhalla 115 Bamboo

A sustainable wohooo with a bamboo core

by Max Elias 12/20/2022
Max Elias
In a small factory in the centre of beautiful Freiburg im Breisgau, Frederic Andes produces fine skis and snowboards in small series by hand and with great attention to detail. Valhalla Ski's core business is lightweight, wide powder skis. These are available in different widths with three lengths each and in different core options, from super light to light. What all boards have in common is the demand for the most sustainable production possible and the greatest possible durability.

In collaboration with Valhalla Skis from Freiburg, the Bamboo 115 is now available in the PowderGuide design. The ski is available exclusively in the PowderGuide Shop.

First impression

To be honest: it was my second impression. After I had already briefly teased the ski at the end of last season in Gear of the Week, I was allowed to test it a little further and even in the exclusive PowderGuide Edition. In combination with an ATK binding, it's a real feast for the eyes and, at 2680 grams, a lightweight at 190cm in length.

Testers and test conditions

I'm 187 cm tall and weigh a good 90 kg on skis with equipment. In recent years, I've mainly skied Down Ski and Armada. Most of the time I compared the Valhalla ski with my CountDown 114, which I ski in 189 cm. The main focus of my activities is usually on fun, good-natured alpine terrain with a good portion of powder snow.

The test conditions ranged from powder days in Baden to low-snow piste days in the Black Forest, snowy piste days in Switzerland and alpine ski tours with the character of a surprise egg.

Test report

Badische deep snow days

Things got off to a good start in February 2021, back then with the "normal" test skis. The borders were closed, but the snow was piling up in the Black Forest right down to the valleys. Perfect for putting the ski through its paces on my favourite mountain. Thanks to its very light weight, the ski naturally scored well on the ascent. In combination with the ATK binding, I was easily able to keep up with my colleagues and their much slimmer models. Even the otherwise rather strenuous tracking is easy to do with the ski and leaves the following touring companions with a properly wide ascent track. Once we reached the summit, the snow was removed from the skis, the bindings were set to downhill mode and the skins were removed.

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I'd already had some fantastic runs on my Stock skis the days before and was now curious to see how the skis would perform in the cold powdery snow between the narrow conifers.

After the first few metres, I felt a long-lasting woohooo effect! Rarely have I turned a corner so easily, so quickly and so surfily in knee-deep snow.

The centre width of 115mm, an early rising rocker and the 1950g per ski make this ski a real powder weapon. After winding my way downhill through the tree slalom in record time, the binding was set back to the ascent and the whole thing repeated a few more times. What was left at the end of the first day was a big grin on my face and the premonition that the fun was about to continue.

Post Corona ski courses

A few months later, the borders were open again, planning for the winter was underway and the first flakes were back. However, with the first good load of snow, corona also returned to our minds and, unfortunately, to the rest of my body.

The reintegration into ongoing winter operations then took place far too late in the form of piste days with the youngsters. The conditions ranged from hard, freshly groomed pistes in the morning to slightly slushy hilly terrain in the afternoon. However, the manoeuvrability of the skis on the piste was fun and a real benefit for the weakened body. I was able to change direction fluently without having to exert too much effort and always keep a close eye on my offspring.

Aim high at last with the PowderGuide Edition

Towards the end of the 2021/2022 season, a call came from Freiburg: A PowderGuide edition of the ski is ready, a matching ATK binding is also available and the package can be tested further.

Unfortunately, the last snowfalls in the Bernese Oberland had already been a few days ago, so I had the opportunity to test the ski's last favourite discipline, which Freddy uses to advertise the ski's strengths: "chopped up".

The ski is fitted with bamboo lamellas glued on edge, which are said to produce excellent flexing properties. After my first descents on well groomed slopes, I can clearly confirm what the manufacturer promises with 10 out of 10 points in choppy conditions.  With the pop typical of bamboo, the ski is agile and playful, but if necessary it pulls unperturbed through choppy snow as if on rails. The shovel is reinforced with flax fibres to ensure balanced handling and good tracking stability. If you trust the pin binding, you can really let it rip with the ski and start playful excursions into the vertical thanks to the pop.

The over-egg tour

The final alpine challenge for the skis was a ski tour with a very heterogeneous snow cover.  Early in the morning, the snow was well frozen from the cold night. On the ascent, the hard snow surface was not a major problem at first. Only on some traverses did the edge have to be set very precisely to ensure sufficient grip.

On the descent, there was a mixture of powder, broken snow, ice and then more soft spring snow at the bottom. This was the first time the ski was shown its limits. Whilst it cruised confidently through the soft snow sections as always, the ski unfortunately lost its edge stability on icy sections. The ski clearly lacks firmness here. In the icy sections, the speed had to be taken out and the next soft snow field had to be fixed.

Max Elias

Conclusion

On almost all the tours and resort days I had with the ski, what I had already surmised on the first day in the Black Forest proved to be true - the ski is a real fun machine through and through! Whether it's fresh deep snow or chopped up snow, narrow forest runs or wide slopes, the Valhalla 115 Bamboo finds its way and is a lot of fun. You can collect metres in altitude with the ski both in the form of many short Black Forest ascents or in one go on a longer alpine ski tour. And as a big fat icing on the cake, I think it has a very appealing design and a likeable company philosophy.

Compared to my previous skis, it is definitely a more than worthy successor and is right at the top of my list of favourites.

Advantages & disadvantages

+ Easy to turn, power-saving & stable in speed

+ Visual treat

+ Handcrafted in Freiburg

+ Sustainable production

- Price

- The ski lacks the hardness for icy conditions

Information on

RRP 980,- €

Length / weight / radius

190 cm - 1960gr +/- 20gr - Radius 19.8m

178 cm -1840gr +/- 20gr - Radius 17,5m

166 cm - 1500gr +/- 20gr - Radius 15,2m

Sidecut: Nose 139mm, Mid 115mm, Tail 125mm

Core: Bamboo

Here you can find more information on the Valhalla website. You can buy the ski here in the PowderGuide Shop. The manufacturer provided us with the ski for the test free of charge. You can find out how we test them in our test statement.

Photo gallery

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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