It’s safe to say no other ski has ever achieved the combination of strength and light weight embodied in the Head Super Joy.  Of course, no other women’s skis but Head’s Joy series have the benefit of using Graphene™, the one-atom thick matrix of carbon that is still finding its footing in the industrial world.

With the Super Joy, Head blends Graphene with carbon-reinforced fiberglass in a sandwich around a Koroyd core.  Koroyd is a honeycomb matrix first used by Salomon in the tips of their Rocker2 models for the same reason Head uses it here: it doesn’t weigh anything. The net effect is a ski so light you’d think it would need a tether to keep it from floating away.  Can such an ethereal body as the Super Joy’s possibly hold its own in variable snow conditions?

Oh, yeah.  The carving control is automatic, with a tidy 12.5m sidecut radius in a 163cm, which is more shapely than a World Cup slalom ski.  The snow feel is sensational, for the Super Joy lets the flow of the terrain shine through without being dulled by wads of rubber and metal.

Best of all, the edge grip exceeds anything you thought possible with a ski so light.  “Held a high speed GS turn,” said an awed Fox from Footloose.  “Fun, responsive, sturdy,” noted Kim from Cal Ski Co., the third adjective being the one that pops off the page.  The Peter Glenn crew encountered all kinds of conditions at their Aspen caper, allowing one of their number to explain, “Turns great in the hardpack, slush, crust, mashed potatoes and corn.”

At the end of the day, the Super Joy defies every expectation. It shouldn’t hold so well. It shouldn’t be so energetic. It certainly shouldn’t go off-piste with such facility.  Be prepared to be proven delightfully wrong on all counts.