I gained a new perspective on Head’s Kore 117 when I skied it in an all-day session with its bros, the Kore 105 and the new Kore 99. It was a storm day at Mt. Rose that began with 6-8” on top of feral crust and ended with an amalgamation of old tracks partially filled with new snow. By the time I step into the Kore 117, it’s nearly 3:00 PM and my thighs have turned to tapioca.

The Kore 117 looks the size of a life raft in a 189cm, but it steers easily despite its girth. The skier doesn’t feel its heft, only the ease it imparts by drifting like a putty knife, smearing over the choppy terrain. Mercifully, it doesn’t need a high edge angle to remain stable and even stays calm when running flat. The relatively long, tapered tip is designed to be a shock bumper and terrain adapter rather than a turn initiator. When called upon to pivot, as often happens in off-trail conditions, its neutral shape underfoot allows the Kore 117 to swivel as if it were on a spindle. When tilted on edge, it can hold a long trajectory like a GS ski.

Almost any Powder ski will help a lower skill skier survive; it takes a strong ski to satisfy an expert who intends to lay it over and charge the fall line. One of the few Powder models an expert can trust to hold a steeply angled edge, the Kore 117 is as exhilarating for experts as it is forgiving to those in need of forgiveness. Just as I was on that revelatory storm day.