No new ski model made as significant an improvement in its performance range as Blizzard’s Sheeva 9. A longtime member of the Blizzard Freeride collection, the Sheeva 9 – along with its men’s counterpart, the Rustler 9 – went through a significant re-design this year, boosting its abilities in any terrain it’s likely to encounter during its lifetime. In Realskiers’ terminology, the Sheeva 9 shifted from a Finesse ski to a Power ski, albeit a Power ski with the highest Finesse score in the genre.
Driving up the new Sheeva 9’s fab Finesse scores were two principal drivers: the adoption of Blizzard’s TrueBlend core concept, and a palpable increase in overall width dimensions. TrueBlend is a precise allocation of sturdy beech stringers interspersed with lighter weight poplar in the mid-section and a dose of lighter-still Paulownia at the tip and tail. TrueBlend creates a perfectly balanced flex adapted for each length offered, so the 150cm has the same properties as the 174cm. (BTW, this is a huge size range, an indication that Blizzard is confident it will serve a broad swath of the market.) This adaptation is particularly valuable for the Finesse skier who isn’t used to loading a ski.
The increase in waist width (from 92mm to 96mm) gives the Sheeva 9 a substantial boost in surface area, inherently improving both its flotation in new snow and ease of steering in chopped-up terrain. Naturally, this alteration means the new model shifts into a drifted turn with relish, another trait that assists the Finesse skier.
As was the case with its men’s counterpart – the Mantra 102 – last year, the latest bundle of modifications to the Secret 102 has infused it with a complete personality transplant. As succinctly summarized by former US Ski Team member Edie Thys Morgan in her review of the 2023 Secret 102, “This is not the ski for the faint of heart or of flex.” The 2024 Secret 102 has shed its hell-bent ways. It no longer seeks to subdue whatever gets in its way, instead responding to its pilot’s subtle suggestions with grace and poise.
What happened to turn a barely tamed bronco into a well-trained show pony? Two factors did most of the heavy lifting, Tailored Titanal Frame and Tailored Carbon Tips. In the original Secret 102, the forward section of the 3-piece Titanal Frame was a one-size-fits-all affair; in the 2024 iteration, each size gets its own part. This is of particular importance in the smaller sizes women prefer. Every aspect of the new Secret 102 is size-specific, so shorter skis aren’t saddled with over-sized components.
Part of the reason that the double-rockered Secret 102 rips groomers like a fully cambered ski is the manner in which Völkl applies an extra dose of carbon to the shovel. Most carbon that goes into skis are either thin stringers or weaves in a pre-set orientation. To get exactly the pattern they wanted, Volkl engineers created hundreds of prototypes, stitching carbon thread into a fleece matrix to arrive at just the right dosage to keep the tip quiet.
No one can accuse the Head Total Joy of being a copycat model. Fifteen years ago, it debuted as the centerpiece of new series of women’s skis built from scratch, without reference to any unisex model. It was also the first time Head industrialized Graphene in a ski, a bold experiment that has paid off in spades. At this stage of the Total Joy’s evolution, Head engineers have figured out how to optimize this unique material, blending it with classic features like an all wood (Karuba-Ash) core, fiberglass and carbon laminates. It’s a heady blend: the wood gives it great snow feel, fiberglass gives it liveliness and snap, the carbon and Graphene keep the weight in check and its piezo-electric EMC damping system maintains snow contact with the same security as much stouter models.
All these goodies were baked into the Total Joy before the latest alterations were added for the 2023/24 season. The most obvious change from the Total Joys of yore is a new tip shape that shaves away 6mm, trimming the forebody and diminishing its propensity for digging in hard at the top of a turn. The Total Joy remains the most carve-centric model in the All-Mountain East pantheon, but the narrower profile will improve its handling in off-trail conditions. Its slimmer silhouette opens up its sidecut radius, which in turn expands its receptivity to variable terrain and improves handling in deep snow.
Also new across the Joy collection for 23/24 is a softer-flexing mid-section that evenly distributes pressure along the full length of the ski. This adaptation alone is worth the price of admission if you’re an AARP member who prizes energy conservation. While the change in forebody geometry has a profound effect on performance, the most significant change in the 2023 Joy series is in the plate that connects it to its integrated Tyrolia binding.
Over the last decade, the Frontside field has evolved to such a degree that Head’s Super Joy, the consummate carving machine, now looks more like an outlier than the norm. Over that time span, the Super Joy’s construction and shape have undergone a series of major alterations; it’s still focused on carving up groomers and it still enjoys the unique advantages of having Graphene in its make-up, but the last two upgrades have altered the Super Joy’s on-snow comportment considerably.
Just a few years ago, Head overhauled the Super Joy’s insides, kicking Koroyd to the curb and replacing it with an all-wood (Karuba and ash) core, supplemented by fiberglass for substance and snap, and more carbon for shock damping and snow contact. Head also adorned the Super Joy with its Energy Management Circuit (EMC) that converts vibrations into electricity, which it uses to stifle high-frequency shocks. As significant as these construction changes were, the improvements made to the 2024 Super Joy have again raised its game to an entirely new level.
The most obvious change is in its skinnier sidecut, particularly at the tip, where Head has lopped off nearly a centimeter. The narrower forebody won’t insist on tucking into the tippy-top of every turn, which is a major change in how the ski routinely behaves. While the new sidecut also entails a longer turn radius, it still skews to the short-turn side of the turn spectrum. It just cedes more control to the pilot regarding trajectory. Perhaps most importantly, the new sidecut will make the Super Joy far more amenable to off-trail conditions, so they needn’t always stick to perfectly manicured corduroy.
It’s instructive that the 99 Ti is the widest women’s Mindbender with Titanal Y-Beam; the next widest Mindbender, the 106C W, uses carbon as its principal structural element, as does the 115C W. This underscores the dividing line between a true all-terrain, in-resort ski like the MB 99 Ti W that will spend roughly half its life on hard snow, and a powder-specific board like the 106 C that could double as a sidecountry touring model. The metal that makes the 99 Ti W proficient on rock-hard groomers would add so much mass to a 106 it would be hard to push around off-trail and murder for climbing. Expert women who want an everyday, all-condition ski for in-bounds skiing should opt for the MB 99 Ti W and leave the wider Mindbenders for the rare powder day.
It bears mention that a skier of limited skills and off-trail experience probably shouldn’t be on a ski as wide as 99mm underfoot, and probably would be better served by a carbon chassis with minimal metal in its make-up, like the K2 Mindbender 90C W. Which isn’t a diss – a 99-waisted ski that sells for $750 should shift its suitability to meet the expectations of experts. Which is just what K2 has done.
