by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
Last year, Head coated all its Kore models in a urethane top coat, primarily as a protective measure, but it definitely also dampened the narrower Kores. On the Kore 105, the urethane and may have made the raised the ski’s overall performance range, as attested by veteran tester Jim Schaffner, who tried it in both its 184cm and 177cm lengths.
“In the shorter size, I felt the 105 to have even greater range and playfulness than the 184cm,” asserted the founder of Start Haus. “I must credit Head for delivering a ton of performance in the Kore line. With the exception of the 105, I skied all of the Kore models in the 177, and they all had amazing horsepower for a svelte 230 pounder like me.”
Schaffner’s experience underscores the importance of length selection. I, too, skied the 2023 Kore 105 in both a 184cm and 177cm, and found the shorter length to be substantially more maneuverable, playful and fun. Keep that thought in mind as you peruse the prose penned two years ago about the 2022 Kore 105, that embodied several important changes that carry over to this season’s iteration.
The Head Kore 105 is the perfect ski for our times. No, it doesn’t promote universal love and understanding among all people, but it does what it can, considering that it’s a ski. It’s not just that it’s the lightest ski in the genre, it’s how that light weight contributes to a quickness off the edge that makes the Kore 105 feel narrower than its actual dimensions.
Another reason that the Kore 105 behaves like a skinnier ski is it adheres to a metal-free diet; the absence of Ti laminates softens its torsional rigidity, enabling it to conform to terrain rather than attempting to subdue it. This business about feeling narrower matters because it makes it reasonable to consider the Kore 105 as an everyday ski for western resort skiing.
Its ultra-light weight also makes the Kore 105 an ideal in-resort/backcountry hybrid. The biggest concern any backcountry skier has about a super-light ski is that it will be great going uphill and suck on the way down, which sort of defeats the whole purpose. There’s zero chance the Kore 105 will flame out on the descent, as it’s far more substantial than any AT model of which I am aware.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
The sole new ski in 2022’s Women’s Big Mountain genre was Head’s Kore 103 W. The year before, Head had pushed the Kore collection down to an 87 on the skinny side of the width spectrum; the only direction left in which to extend the Kore clan was to go fatter. Hence the Kore 103 W.
The last time Head ventured a women’s model in the Big Mountain category, it was the Joy collection’s first season. Critics raved about the 110mm Big Joy, but almost no one bought it. (Pity, as it was a great ski.) But that was before Kore arrived, setting a new standard for what a lightweight design can do.
The Kore 103 W is part of the second wave of Kore development, which should be more attractive to women due to a softer, livelier flex and a beveled top edge that helps conserve energy by sliding sideways effortlessly. And of course, the Kore 103 W is insanely lightweight, tipping the scales at a mere 1710g in a 177cm.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
The Head Kore 91 W is either the best women’s ski for off-trail skiing, or the best off-trail ski for women, take your pick. Don’t detect a difference? Neither do we. The properties that make the Kore 91 W a great women’s ski and those that make it ideally suited for off-piste conditions are the same.
No matter which side of this equation you’re on, the Kore 91 W got a shot in the arm two years ago when Head incorporated several new elements into the Kore design. First, it redecorated the interior, tearing out artificial Koroyd honeycomb and replacing it with its blended Karuba/poplar wood core. The switch to all-wood makes a difference in the feedback the skier receives from the snow, so the ski feels supportive but not fussy about how it’s handled.
Whether you’re taking your first strides into the sidecountry – or perhaps the backcountry? – or you earned your off-trail stripes long ago, the Kore 91 W is a gas to have along for the ride. You’ll be amazed by the amount of energy you can save by skiing the right ski off-trail. The Kore 91 W reigns supreme in this department. For its many energy-saving attributes, we award the Kore 91 W a Silver Skier Selection.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
Head’s Kore series provides a perfect example of why a great off-trail ski and an ideal women’s ski share the same design criteria. In 21/22, the changes made to the unisex Kore collection were ipso facto applied to its women’s iterations. The same alterations that make the new Kore 99 a better all-terrain ski also make the Kore 97 W a better women’s ski.
The most visible change was to the topsheet, which is now smoothly beveled so the ski slips sideways virtually without resistance, a big help when the snow is deep. A top coating of urethane was added for 2023, to help protect its fleece top. Inside, the Kore’s core was modified by eliminating Koroyd honeycomb and replacing it with more of its Karuba-poplar wood core. This delivers a subtle change in snow feel and feedback that makes the ride feel smoother and more predictable. The only thing the skier notices about the lightweight design is that it takes less effort to steer; there’s no sense of it being skittish or easily knocked off course just because it’s light.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
Head has so much confidence in the all-terrain capabilities of its off-trail Kore design that three years ago it discontinued its Monster series and chucked its classic, wood-and-Titanal construction, to make room for the Kore 87 in its collection. Two years ago, the entire Kore family, including the re-christened Kore 85 W, was redesigned in several subtle ways to raise the performance bar even higher.
From a global performance perspective, Head understands that not all Kores will be treated equally. The Kore 85 W, as the narrowest of the clan, is expected to spend a good deal of its life on groomed snow, so it’s stiffened up accordingly. Like all the Kores, the 85 W switched out the synthetic Koroyd in its innards for more Karuba and poplar laminates, improving overall feedback from the snow.
The Kore 85 W is nonetheless an off-trail ski by dint of its baseline and sidecut, so it has a special fondness for powder. A new (as of two seasons ago) Kore feature that makes it even more effortless to ski in deep snow is a chamfered top edge that lets the ski slice sideways with almost no resistance. Since all powder skiing entails some foot-swiveling, this seemingly minor change has a major impact.
