Head did an amazing job of positioning its Kore series as “light done right,” catching the “Lighter is Better” wave with the right message at the right time. The brand’s focus on the light part of the story was so effective it overshadowed the real point of the slogan, the “done right” bit. What makes the Kore 117 isn’t that it’s ultralight – it’s not close to being the lightest in the Powder genre – but that it’s freakishly powerful.
The deeply tapered tip acts more like a bumper than an avid turn initiator and the rounded tail is intended to release the turn as if it were a wounded sparrow. Right underfoot the sidecut is fairly straight, so the center section can be foot-steered more easily. What keeps the Kore 117 on track in choppy chunder is its overall stiffness. Thanks to Graphene’s absurd strength to weight ratio, the Kore 117 can be as resistant to twisting and bending as Head’s engineers want it to be.
Everything about the Head Worldcup Rebels i.Speed Pro yells, “Racer ready?” It’s a rhetorical question, for ready or not, once you set the i.Speed Pro in motion you are off to the races. The first clue that this is a no-posers powerhouse is its honking plate, which contributes damping, leverage and the need for total commitment by the skier on every turn. Pick up a pair and you’ll get the second striking indication that this ski might be better than you: it’s loaded with Titanal. Remember, Head is the only supplier with a license to use Graphene, the lightest, strongest material yet industrialized, so it could, theoretically, reduce the weight of the i.Speed Pro.
Instead, Head uses Graphene in this ski to manage flex distribution and loads up on Titanal for its irreplaceable ability to muffle high-speed vibrations. Whatever shock can penetrate the Titanal shield inside the i.Speed Pro will encounter KERS, arguably the most technologically advanced shock management system ever created. Piezo-electric fibers embedded in the prepreg fiberglass in the tail section are activated by the high frequency vibrations caused by running over ruts at 50mph. The piezos send their charge into a microchip (visible on the topskin) where its amplified and fired back into the glass, stiffening what was already a substantial platform.
The Fischer Ranger 115 FR is an interesting amalgam of suppressed carving tendencies and overt desires to drift around every corner. Like any decent Powder ski, it’s first duty is to drift, but its ultralight Air Tec Ti core is sheathed in a sliver of Titanal, generating the security underfoot necessary to stay on course in heavy, cut-up crud. Despite its inherent prejudice for smearing, it’s on its best behavior when mimicking giant slalom technique through an open snowfield.
The one move it can’t copy is a short-radius, carved turn, a virtual impossibility given its front and rear rocker. This limited liability is shared by all Powder models, and is readily overcome by simply swiveling one’s feet. The Ranger 115 FR’s facility as a power drifter is further assisted by its Carbon Nose, which lowers swingweight, and its domed, Aeroshape top surface that slips sideways with silken ease.
I’ve tried for several seasons to strap on a pair of Blizzard Spurs, but I’ve always been thwarted. For several years no powder fell during test season and the few pairs in circulation were needed elsewhere. Once the product manager wouldn’t send me a pair to test because he knew they were unlikely to see any new snow. Since every one of its 192 centimeters was built for winter powder, not spring slush, he withheld his favors. I considered the Spurs to be my ever-elusive white whales, although these whales happen to be murdered-out black.
After finally getting on a pair in appropriate conditions, I understand why Blizzard put the kibosh on testing the Spur on whatever happens to be handy. The Spur is meant for making movies in Alaska. Its gigantic surface area rides so high it can be pivoted in a pipeline chute despite having the turn radius of a FIS GS race ski. The sidecut radius is invariably irrelevant because you’re always going to be smearing part, if not all, of every turn.
The Blizzard Bodacious has been around long enough to collect a pension, yet it remains one of the most badass big skis you can buy, bursting with youthful exuberance. Only one other ski in the genre, Nordica’s Enforcer 115 Free, deploys two sheets of Titanal, which in a ski of the Bodacious’ gargantuan dimensions creates a crud-buster with the power of a Panzer. Once they’re pointed downhill, momentum is not the problem, but keeping up with their preferred pace can be.
Because it’s built like an all-mountain ski, its ability to hold an edge is well above average for the genre. Not that you want always to ride the edge on a ski with a 30.5m sidecut radius (186cm), but the Bodacious won’t back down even on boilerplate so you could ski it – and ski it well – in any condition. And should you get in trouble and need to pull the ripcord by straight-lining to safety, no other Powder ski is as stable at speed as this Blizzard.
