2021 Head Kore 87
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Ski Stats

Sidecut 130/87/110
Radius 16m @180cm
Lengths 153,162,171,180,189
Weight 1742g @ 180cm
MSRP $750
FIND
Power Score:

Finesse Score:

3
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[mepr-hide if="rule: 3745"]Head was selling freeride skis before it cooked up the Kore series, but I’ll bet you can’t name one of them as they barely sold a stick in the U.S. The 3-model launch of the Kore series changed all that overnight. The first vintage sold out immediately, so Head quadrupled production. And sold out again. Then along came the Kore 99 to fill the space between the wildly successful 93 and the series sweetspot, the 105, and it sold to the wall, too. When you’re on a roll it’s hard to pass the dice, so this year Head pushed the boundary of its off-trail collection down to the Kore 87. Considering that initially the focal point of the Kore series was the 105, an 87 is a mighty skinny sibling. (BTW, this phenomenon, once a rarity, is now commonplace.) But as the Kore concept has proven in its every iteration, when the name of the game is off-trail versatility, Kores come to play. The whole point of this genre is expanding the skier’s playing field, opening up access to the ungroomed mountain where its real magic lies. For off-piste playgrounds like moguls and trees, the Kore 87’s crazy-light construction and narrow silhouette allow it to slither through spaces where bigger boards flounder. Since the Kore 87 is in every way like its elder brothers save for its width, it retains their affinity for irregular terrain. [/mepr-hide]

Head was selling freeride skis before it cooked up the Kore series in 16/17, but I’ll bet you can’t name one of them as they barely sold a stick in the U.S. The 3-model launch of the Kore series changed all that overnight. The first vintage sold out immediately, so Head quadrupled production for year two. And sold out again. Then along came the Kore 99 to fill the space between the wildly successful 93 and the series sweetspot, the 105, and it sold to the wall, too.

When you’re on a roll it’s hard to pass the dice, so this year Head pushed the boundary of its off-trail collection down to the Kore 87. Considering that initially the focal point of the Kore series was the 105, an 87 is a mighty skinny sibling. (BTW, this phenomenon, once a rarity, is now commonplace.)

But as the Kore concept has proven in its every iteration, when the name of the game is off-trail versatility, Kores come to play. The whole point of the All-Mountain East genre is expanding the skier’s playing field, opening up access to the ungroomed mountain where its real magic lies. For off-piste playgrounds like moguls, trees and pucker-tight chutes, the Kore 87’s crazy-light construction and narrow silhouette allow it to slither through spaces where bigger boards get stuck.

Aside from the use of carbon and Graphene – carbon in a one-atom thick matrix that only Head is licensed to use in skis – the Kore construction is nothing like the wood-and-metal machines Head built its reputation on in the race and carving domains. Skis built on a racing template are intended for hard snow, where more mass is a plus, but the design focus of the Kore collection is precisely the opposite. In place of hard woods, the Kore core substitutes Koroyd, a synthetic honeycomb, Karuba, an ultralight wood and Graphene, a combination that is both wickedly light and shockingly strong.

The tactical deployment of Graphene allows Head to make this core in a thin profile that slices easily sideways when submerged in soft snow. The Kores’ penchant for off-piste conditions is also driven by its shape and baseline, which combine to facilitate drifting or rotating a flat ski. Since the Kore 87 is in every way like its elder brothers save for its width, it retains this affinity for irregular terrain.

The “save for its width” proviso matters because its thinner shape makes the Kore 87 a more versatile all-mountain ski than its fatter kin. It can make a niftier short-radius turn, it’s quicker on and off the edge and it’s the lightest Kore because there’s less of it. Head is so confident in its New School design’s competence on groomers that the debut of the Kore 87 has put the Old School, wood-and-Titanal Monster series out to pasture. Traditionalists will no doubt mourn the Monsters’ passing, but the Kore 87 is a better tool for skiers transitioning to life off-trail.