Last season saw the debut of the women’s Joy series, the first application of Graphene™ in the ski world, and the market reception could not have been better.
Head also made hay with two cornerstone models, the Rev 85 Pro and Rev 80 Pro, which offered elite construction at an affordable price. For 2016 Head is replacing the Revs with a new system series for Frontside skiers, the Instincts, and bringing back the Monster name, applied to a 4-ski series of wider, off-piste skis.
The keynote of both the on-trail Instinct series and the off-trail-oriented Monsters is the tactical deployment of Graphene™, the one-atom thick latticework of carbon that allows Head designers to trim wood and/or metal, reducing mass while strengthening structure.
The top two models in the tight-radius Instinct series, the Power Instinct Ti Pro and the Raw Instinct Ti Pro, share the same wood-and-Titanal construction and the same appetite for high-throttle carving. When they’re glued to the ground, they feel as solid as granite; the lightweight advantage of Graphene is more evident whenever you need to whip them around or lift them off the snow.
The step-down Strong Instinct Ti and Supreme Instinct Ti use foam in lieu of wood so they respond in a lower gear than their beefier brothers. Easy to bow and light as a whisper, their low-speed maneuverability will appeal to the intermediate who aspires to be more.
The resuscitated Monster series all use a combination of wood, Titanal and Graphene, but how they distribute pressure varies by width. The Monster 108 and Monster 98 move the pressure zones towards the tip and tail, while the Monster 88 and Monster 83 exert more force underfoot (as do the Instinct models).
Other Monster family traits include flat tails and flat topskins, meaning they’re directional off-trail skis, cambered all the way back from the rockered forebody and sold without bindings. In a way we mean as complimentary, they ski like wide-body carvers rather than loose-steering off-piste skis.
In the interests of full disclosure, your Editor played a small hand in the launch of the original (87mm) Head Monster at the turn of the century, so bias no doubt influences my judgment. Despite a wider-is-better Zeitgeist, I find the Monster 88 to be the avatar of all-mountain proficiency, quick on and off the edge and unintimidated by the worst off-piste conditions, such as set-up crud and frozen chicken heads.
The Instinct and Monster series are joining a line that is otherwise intact and firing on all cylinders: globe-winning World Cup Rebels race skis, sublime i.Supershape carvers and the ultra-light, ultra-popular Joy women’s skis are all back and as beautiful as ever.