Head didn’t invent the shaped ski, but when the Carving Revolution was in its infancy it was the first major brand to commit to the concept with its Cyber series. Over the last quarter century its commitment hasn’t wavered, consistently offering several skis in its collection with curvaceous sidecuts. For the last decade, the focus of Head’s non-race carving models has been the Supershape series, a family that remains intact in 20/21, albeit in a new incarnation.

In light of its long history of making category-crushing carvers, it’s saying something to assert that the new batch of Supershapes is the best ever and that among them the e-Rally hits the sweetspot. As it approaches a new turn, the e-Rally is like the smarty pants in class who is practically jumping out of his seat because he knows the right answer. At the first hint of recognition that its pilot wants to change direction, it dips and tugs into the turn; all it needs is a little more encouragement in the form of a tilted edge and it’s cutting a short-radius arc you couldn’t bobble if you tried. As the skier’s energy shifts to the tail at arc’s end, the e-Rally provides an earthquake-proof platform for transitioning to the next exhilarating turn.

With its 54mm-drop between tip and waist width along with two thick, end-to-end, wall-to-wall sheets of Titanal, you’d surmise the e-Rally isn’t open to suggestion about turn shape. But you’d be wrong. Sure, if you take full advantage of its sidecut you can cut a world-class slalom turn, but back off the edge angle and you can extract whatever shape you want.

A parallel point can be made about the e-Rally’s attitude about speed: it’s not mandatory to go 40 mph, but you’ll never discover the amazing effect of Head’s new Energy Management Circuit (EMC) if you don’t give it some gas. The EMC converts vibration to electric current at precisely 80Hz, so you have to generate enough shock to trigger the EMC conversion. When you have sufficient energy coursing through its system, the e-Rally becomes both calmer and more responsive, reacting to a jolt of added pressure with palpable forward propulsion.

While rolling edge to edge in a wide-stance, dual-track style is the e-Rally’s stock in trade, it’s not a one-note ski. On one test run at Mammoth I diverted to a steep slope reserved for race practice that was cast in early morning shadow. This was not the sort of “snow” or pitch that would hold a gently applied edge; to prevent chatter, you had to hit each edge set hard and fast. The e-Rally adapted to this catch-and-release style as if it were a straight slalom of yore, pinging off the edge with the reflexes of a race ski.

As a rule, a Frontside ski should be skied short, and the e-Rally is no exception. Its slight early rise in the tip is utterly unnoticeable because as soon as the e-Rally is tipped, its entire edge is engaged, so you don’t lose any effective length to rocker. There’s no point at which you lose edge connection unless you lift the ski off the snow, and whenever a ski is on the snow it’s as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. “Great, predictable performance,” confirms Start Haus’ Jim Schaffner, “it’s playfulness with power.”