There’s a misconception about short-radius skis like the i.Magnum (13.1m @ 170cm) that they won’t do a long turn without getting wobbly and lose all composure off-piste. Poppycock. Of course it’s not a Powder ski, but the i.Magnum is no more perturbed by common off-trail conditions than it is by blue-tinted boilerplate. It will eat whatever you feed it. If you want a little more stability at speed and a slightly longer radius arc, don’t be shy about stepping up to the 177cm.
The Supershape i.Speed takes all of the considerable talents of its predecessor up a notch or two. The new sidecut is even more shapely that the already Betty Boop silhouette of the i.Supershape Speed it replaces in the line, so tight corners are even more of a kick. It bows more easily because it has a thinner core profile, particularly underfoot where its Graphene™ reinforcement is concentrated. Once tipped and pressured into its very tidy 14m arc, its grip is World Cup quality, intensified by two end-to-end slabs of Titanal.
For 2017, Head has incorporated the miracle material Graphene™ – carbon reduced to the irreducible one atom – into the i.SL RD’s make-up. One might be forgiven for thinking that adding Graphene would ipso facto reduce the ski’s weight, but racers aren’t looking for lighter skis, but ones with perfect flex distribution. Because of its absurd 300-to-1 strength advantage over steel, Graphene strengthens the ski as well as stiffens it, an important feature among fragile slalom race skis.
It’s not an exaggeration to say the Vantage 95 C isn’t just the best value in the All-Mountain West genre; it’s 2017’s best ski for the buck, period, end of story.
Or, as in this review, the beginning. For the Vantage 95 C is so good, it earned its podium position among our Finesse models on technical merit, not the come-hither appeal of a price point. The technology that elevates the 95 C above its presumed peers is called Carbon Tank Mesh, a grid of carbon strands that covers the entire ski and contributes considerably to its grip, stability and pop.
“Light and agile for 100mm underfoot,” notes the perspicacious Matt from Footloose. “It carves like it’s narrow, but has a big platform for versatility in soft snow.” One reason this 100 skis like a more petite model is that, despite the obligatory front rocker, it hooks up early as long as the skier is in an aggressive, forward-pressing stance. Several testers noted the need to stay forward in order to get the most of the Vantage 100 CTI’s potential.