Blaze 94 Purple Rose Flat 24/25 (also known as Volkl)

The Blaze 94 Purple Rose is Volkl's all-mountain freeride ski for women who want one ski that handles resort groomers in the morning and tracked-out off-piste terrain by afternoon. It's built on a Hybrid Multilayer Woodcore — poplar and paulownia for liveliness, beech at the sidewalls and binding zone for grip — with a 0.3mm titanal plate sitting specifically under the binding footprint. That placement isn't an accident: keeping the metal underfoot tightens the pivot point and adds edge hold and damping where you actually need them, without the weight penalty of a full-sheet construction. The 4 Radius Drive sidecut runs four different arcs from tip to tail, which means the ski can initiate a short, snappy turn in the trees and still carry a longer arc at speed without hunting. Tip and tail rocker with camber underfoot keeps the nose and tail unweighted in soft snow and floating above chop, while the cambered section between your feet delivers solid edge-to-edge contact when the snow is packed. Volkl's Suspension Tips and Tails — TPU inserts at the extremities — absorb impact from wind crust and chopped snow rather than transmitting it up your legs. This is a flat ski with no binding included; pair it with a touring or alpine binding to match your intended use.

This ski is aimed at advanced and strong intermediate women who ski varied terrain and don't want to be handed a softened version of the men's ski. Volkl kept the construction the same as the men's Blaze 94 in terms of metal placement and core philosophy — the Purple Rose is not a recolored women's compromise. At 94mm underfoot, it earns its width in soft snow but doesn't penalize you on hardpack the way a wider ski would. That said, if your days are mostly on groomed runs or your technique is still developing, this ski's directional freeride character will work harder than you want it to; the Blaze 86 is the better call — narrower, lighter, no titanal, and genuinely easier to drive at moderate speeds. Conversely, if you ski more days in real powder and want better float without fighting the ski, step up to the Blaze 104.