The 2024 Volkl Yumi 80 continues on its trend of being one of the best narrow all-mountain skis out there. While Volkl claims it belongs more in their freeride section of skis, it seems like it’s more of a versatile ski for a huge range of skiers for mainly on-trail situations. The waist is narrow enough to be effective in carved turns on firmer snow while the tip and tail rocker combine with a friendly flex to ensure proper soft snow performance as well. Yumi has been around for a few years now, and finally has seemed to find its home with a new build as of last season. It returns structurally unchanged, which is great news for intermediate and advanced skiers who spend most of their time on groomers but also want to keep adventurous skiing firmly in the discussion.

Built with their multi-layer wood core that features denser wood along the sides and more flexible wood in the middle, this aligns well with the glass frame that sits on top of the core. While some of the more advanced skis in the Volkl line have a titanal frame, the glass frame found in Yumi makes more sense for the intended audience. When they pair the harder wood along the sides with the fiberglass laminate on top, it sends more power and energy to the edges of the ski, leading to a crisp turn and a confident arc. The central portion of the ski with the softer wood and the lack of fiberglass adds to the agile nature of the ski and keeps it maneuverable and playful in softer snow and more variable conditions and terrain. The Yumi 80 ends up hitting a paltry 1240 grams per ski in the 147, so it’s super-quick and agile for progressing and improving skiers.

As a narrower all-mountain ski, the Yumi 80 still has its share of rocker and taper. The shape of the ski is on the round side, as opposed to more of a front side option that will have squared-off tips and tails for better grip. In the Yumi 80, the ski has a bit of rocker in both tips and tails and a rounder taper shape to make more easygoing turns at a variety of speeds and styles. We also get Volkl’s 3D Radius sidecut in this ski that allows for more progression in turn shapes. The central portion of the 147 has a shorter arc of 11 meters while the tips and tails produce radii of 16 and 14-meters respectively. This is more of an intuitive way of skiing, and it happens without thinking about it. It’s incredibly easy to get the Yumi 80 up on edge, and it affords a surprisingly high-performance level of carving and turning.

While progressing beginners and intermediates are at the heart of this ski’s audience, that’s a big heart, and comprises a huge portion of the ski population. Most skiers, most of the time, are found on groomed trails and in some form of turn, whether it’s cleanly carved or not. If you’re looking for something easy, versatile, intuitive, and confidence-inspiring, the 2024 Volkl Yumi 80 is about as good as it’s going to get.