2026 Volkl Blaze 86

Every once in a while, you’ll come across a ski that punches above its weight. Its performance exceeds expectations based on price and how it’s positioned in the industry. The Blaze 86 is maybe the best example of that you’ll find. It’s far from expensive, it doesn’t receive as much attention or accolades as skis found in the Mantra collection, but just about every time we put a new tester on it, they come back with vastly positive feedback and genuine surprise. We actually see it in folks who work for Volkl too. After it was introduced a few years back, our friends at Volkl (reps, sales managers, etc) started skiing it more and more. They always referenced it being easier to ski and less fatiguing than Volkl’s heavier, stiffer options, while still satisfying their needs on a day to day basis.

One of the reasons why skis like the Blaze 86 are often overlooked, especially by advanced and expert skiers, is the simplicity of their construction. It’s just a lightweight Multilayer Woodcore, a steel band for binding retention, and Volkl’s Suspension Tips & Tails. There’s some technology in there, sure, but overall, it’s quite simple. They’re also quite lightweight. So light, in fact, that some skiers will actually choose the Blaze 86 as a touring ski, which is a very reasonable decision to make. That said, it’s great as an all-mountain ski too. We’ve had a lot of people test the Blaze 86 over the years and the reactions are almost always positive. Some, like Colleen, comment on how good it would be for a progressing skier looking to improve. “Great ski, greatly assists in turning. Good for level 1 and 2 got skiers who could use assistance in turns on the slopes.” Others, like Megan, who has a strong and significant race background, just enjoy it for what it is and are often shocked by their experience. “Loved the same as the blaze 94; but if I had to choose one it would be the 94 so I also get the flotation. One of my favorite skis though, fun and playful but reliable on the fast firm stuff which is where I often lose a playful ski.”

At 86 mm underfoot, it’s squarely in the all-mountain category. Among skis in the mid-80 mm range, however, the Blaze 86 takes more freeride influence than most. It has reasonably long rocker lines, although the rocker doesn’t rise abruptly off the snow. That means you get the maneuverability benefits of rockered tips and tails, but if you tip the ski on edge, you’re still achieving a long effective edge allowing for plenty of trust and control. Volkl also uses their 3D Radius shaping where we see longer radii in the tips and tails and a shorter radius underfoot. This lets the skier really play around with different turn shapes. The ski doesn’t pull you into a turn when you don’t want it to, giving the skier full control when varying between shorter, more pivoted turns and longer, more arcing carves.

As a reminder, Volkl stopped indicating a “men’s” or “women’s” in the Blaze models, which really makes a lot of sense considering they’ve always been built the same. Instead, we just get two different color options now, which happen to come in every length. Whether you’re choosing the more muted gray theme or you’re opting for a pop of color in what Volkl refers to as the “Petrol” colorway, you’re getting an affordable, versatile, and satisfying all-mountain ski.