If you love the sensation of a firecracker-quick slalom ski, you’ll be smitten by the Head Supershape e-Speed the first time you kick it into high gear. That’s when its super-shapely sidecut shines, for at precisely 80Hz its piezo-powered Energy Management Circuit calms the whole ski down so the e-Speed can maintain continuous snow contact despite being whiplash fast edge to edge.
One arena in which the e-Speed is surprisingly adept is a mogul field, where its narrow forebody can pick a path a fat ski can’t follow. As long as the pilot keeps the e-Speed at low edge angles, it won’t oversteer, but keeps an even keel in choppy waters. Of course, bumps aren’t really its favorite flavor. The e-Speed was made for corduroy country, where its exhilarating edge grip at high angles feel unshakeable.
Head was the first major manufacturer to embrace carving skis when they were still in their infancy, and the brand has never lost its commitment to perfecting the genre. The latest embellishment to its unmatched collection of carving machines is called EMC, for Energy Management Circuit. EMC converts vibration into electric current at precisely 80Hz, so your skis settle down just when the going gets rough.
The e-Magnum is the shapeliest of all the Supershapes, with a 59mm drop between its tip and waist dimensions, creating a turn radius (13.1m @ 170cm) tighter than that of World Cup slalom. The slight early rise in its shovel behaves more like a fully cambered ski than a rockered one. It doesn’t just like to carve; it insists on it. Note that you don’t need length for stability, as the e-Magnum is built to be as quiet as a Bentley in a Mini Cooper length.
Two seasons ago, the Joy family of women-specific carving skis underwent the same sort of across-the-board transformation that the Kore series experienced this year. Head’s justifiable focus on Graphene, carbon in a one-atom-thick matrix – that allows Head to tinker with flex in ways previously unimaginable – makes it sound as though the ultralight Total Joy were made of synthetics and pixie dust, but it’s actually grounded in an all-wood (Karuba and ash) core, with carbon, fiberglass and lighter-than-pixie-dust Graphene providing structural support.
Its ultralight insides aren’t all that’s unique about the Total Joy. It’s also the maven of a covey of carving skis, and it’s built more for on-piste edging than off-trail smearing. In this respect the Total Joy is the Kore 85 W’s polar opposite. Its mildly rockered, multi-radius forebody itches to find an edge, and its deep-dish sidecut wants to hold onto it like it like it was a long-lost child. It’s ideal for an accomplished frontside skier who occasionally dabbles in off-trail pursuits.
