No other ski in the All-Mountain East category remains as committed to carving as the Head Total Joy. If the Total Joy were a doctor, it would be a specialist rather than a general practitioner. Carving is it’s life’s work, as one glance at its deep-dish sidecut will tell you. Its turn radius is only 13.6 in a 163cm, and it descends to a size 148cm, which must be able to turn sitting still. The Total Joy earns its highest marks for Short-Radius Turns – third best in the entire genre – with an aggregate score will above the category average.

Aside from its short-turn fetish, the Total Joy’s most tangible trait is its featherweight design, an amalgam of carbon fiber, Koroyd honeycomb and Graphene, carbon in an infinitesimal matrix of atoms that’s 300 times stronger than steel. It’s Graphene that gives the Total Joy such decisive grip with minimal mass.

“Really responsive ski during short slalom turns – so much fun – hopped through the bumps!” exclaims JC from The Sport Loft. Another regular contributor from The Sport Loft, Lindsey Nesbitt, notes how the Total Joy responds to technical commands: “Once I put my leg and boot into it, it worked beautifully! It’s a fun ski!”

More stable than you expect such a light ski to be, the Total Joy is easy to keep on course as long as it’s fed a steady diet of dual-track carves. Kimberly Collins from California Ski Company took a cotton to its carving, calling the Total Joy, “Light and sturdy, an all-around fun ski! Turns easily and rides great at all speeds,” Ms. Collins concludes.