Given its tapered tip and tail, the Kore 99 probably doesn’t care much about rocketing around on hardpack, but it has the good manners not to show it. Proof that it can handle the rigors of hard snow comes with the application of speed in increasingly heavy doses. (Note the nearly 9.0 average score for stability.) But the Kore 99’s proficiency on crispy corduroy is hardly the point; this ski was built for powder and its evil twin, crud. Not only is the Kore 99 palpably lighter than the norm, which reduces the power drain on the pilot, but its fairly straight midsection allows it to pivot more or less at will. This allows for the minor course corrections that are the difference between finding the freshies between the tracks and missing them. In a genre already well stocked with fall-line chargers, the Kore 99 provides an alternative snow feel.
By increasing sidewall height at the extremities, Head made the V-Shape V10 softer underfoot. This allows skiers who don’t visit the gym on every off day to bend a high performance carving ski. Complementing the easy-bowing action is a subdued rebound, like a slingshot in slow motion. Agile enough to negotiate most mogul fields, the V-Shape V10 would prefer not to, as it’s forte is continuous carving, as in top to bottom. This all but mandates an even carpet as the skier’s canvas, rather than the rough-and-tumble of off-trail terrain. Lighter weight skiers, like the chic Danielle Goldsmith from the shop that bears her name, will find the V-Shape V10 to be “fast, with incredible edge grip. Feels like a GS with an 85mm waist,” she notes.
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 Kore 117 looks the size of a life raft in a 189cm, but it steers easily despite its girth. The skier doesn’t feel its heft, only the ease it imparts by drifting like a putty knife, smearing over the choppy terrain. Mercifully, it doesn’t need a high edge angle to remain stable and even stays calm when running flat. Almost any Powder ski will help a lower skill skier survive; it takes a strong ski to satisfy an expert who intends to lay it over and charge the fall line. The Kore 117 is as exhilarating for experts as it is forgiving to those in need of forgiveness.
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.”
