No other ski in the All-Mountain East category remains as committed to carving as the Head Total Joy. If the Total Joy were a doctor, it would be a specialist rather than a general practitioner. Carving is it’s life’s work, as one glance at its deep-dish sidecut will tell you. Its turn radius is only 13.6 in a 163cm, and it descends to a size 148cm, which must be able to turn sitting still. The Total Joy earns its highest marks for Short-Radius Turns – third best in the entire genre – with an aggregate score will above the category average. Aside from its short-turn fetish, the Total Joy’s most tangible trait is its featherweight design, an amalgam of carbon fiber, Koroyd honeycomb and Graphene.
In the Monster 88’s evolution from unflinching rail to supple carver it hasn’t departed from its original mission: to combine race room construction with off-trail dimensions. Once the sole province of technically proficient skiers, the latest Monster 88 Ti is more accessible to the less skilled and a better overall off-piste companion. Yet it still possesses the solidity that true experts appreciate. As tester Jon Beebe attests, the Monster 88 Ti is “a charging ski that you can load up and really accelerate out of a turn.” Because it is in some ways a throwback to when most AME skis were essentially wider Frontside skis, the Monster 88 Ti is a natural option for skiers hoping to replace an earlier iteration of the genre.
The secret to the Kore 93’s success is Graphene, carbon in a one-atom thick matrix, that’s 300 times stronger than steel. Head combines it with Karuba, a superlight wood, and Koroyd, a synthetic honeycomb, to make a structure that’s damp yet reactive and most of all, light. For the second year in a row, testers raved about the Kore 93. “Easy to turn, light yet stable and fun for many types of terrain,” writes one. “This is the best light ski, so stable at speed. Super sick all mountain light core ski,” says another. “Awesome line of skis. Quick, light, damp ski. For the intermediate cruiser to hard charger,” chimes in a third fan. Another succinct summation: “Smooth, powerful, and fun. Makes the rider better.”
K2’s new Alluvit 88Ti isn’t a mere improvement over last year’s iteration, but a major makeover with benefits for all women skiers, particularly those with off-trail travels on the daily agenda. Mirroring the moves made by the unisex Pinnacle 88Ti, the Alluvit 88Ti ditched the foam section of its core in favor of an all-wood affair featuring fir and aspen, then added a perimeter of Titanal to calm the edge and sharpen its bite. The changes flipped the Alluvit 88’s personality from meek wallflower to sassy extrovert. If the Alluvit 88Ti has a terrain bias, it’s in favor of soft snow in depths ranging from one inch to two feet.
