V-Shape 10 - Realskiers

2020 Head V-Shape 10

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Ski Stats

Sidecut 139/85/121

Radius 13.6m @ 170cm

Lengths 163,170,177,184

Weight 1740g @ 170m

MSRP $1075

FIND

Power Score: 8.37

Finesse Score: 8.38

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The obvious point about the V-Shape 10’s LYT Tech design is it’s much lighter than the norm among men’s Frontside models. But the big trick in LYT Tech’s bag is how it uses Graphene to change one of a ski’s most fundamental features, its core profile. Through all the disruptive design changes that have roiled the ski world in the past 30 years – shaped skis, fat skis, rockered baselines – you could always count on a ski being thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends. But Graphene’s ability to affect stiffness without affecting mass allows Head to toy with flex distribution in unique ways. The V-Shape 10 is made thinner through the middle so it can be loaded with less exertion, a major differentiator between it and, say, an i.Supershape Titan. The V-Shape 10 is a system ski, meaning it comes with its own binding, but there’s an optional component that isn’t included in the price but is certainly part of the package: Head’s LYT Tech boots, the Nexo series. While not strictly speaking an integrated system, Head’s ultralight boot/ski combo is the first of its kind. If you like the idea of a luxury carving kit that weighs no more than a whisper, consider going all-in and matching the V-Shape 10 with a Nexo Lyt boot.

When Head acquired a license to use Graphene, the Nobel-winning matrix of carbon atoms one-atom thick, its engineers began to methodically apply it across its Alpine ski collection. The first execution was an entire family of made-for-women’s skis, not a single one of them cloned from a unisex template. Then Graphene began to infiltrate existing product series, including Head’s race skis, Supershape carvers and Monster all-mountain models.

Then came Kore, a built-from-scratch off-trail collection that further demonstrated what Graphene could do in conjunction with other weight-saving materials. Then last year Head took the next step and created another utterly new series that capitalized on all it had learned, V-Shape. There are still traditional elements in the V-Shape 10, such as carbon, fiberglass and ash alongside Karuba in its wood core, but it’s Graphene that makes its LYT Tech construction possible.

The obvious point about the V-Shape 10’s LYT Tech design is it’s much lighter than the norm among men’s Frontside models. But the big trick in LYT Tech’s bag is how it uses Graphene to change one of a ski’s most fundamental features, its core profile.

Through all the disruptive design changes that have roiled the ski world in the past 30 years – shaped skis, fat skis, rockered baselines – you could always count on a ski being thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends. But Graphene’s ability to affect stiffness without affecting mass allows Head to toy with flex distribution in unique ways. The V-Shape 10 is made thinner through the middle so it can be loaded with less exertion, a major differentiator between it and, say, an i.Supershape Titan.

The V-Shape 10 is a system ski, meaning it comes with its own binding, but there’s an optional component that isn’t included in the price but is certainly part of the package: Head’s LYT Tech boots, the Nexo series. While not strictly speaking an integrated system, Head’s ultralight boot/ski combo is the first of its kind. If you like the idea of a luxury carving kit that weighs no more than a whisper, consider going all-in and matching the V-Shape 10 with a Nexo Lyt boot.

Compared to an alternative carving set-up, such as 130-flex boot and a metal-laden trenching tool, the V-Shape 10 feels like nothing at all. Says one veteran tester, “I wasn’t even sure they were still on my feet. Impressive performance for its weight. Floats on powder and carves on ice.”

Once you get past its crazy weightlessness, you’ll find the V-Shape 10 is a smooth operator with an innate desire to lay down dual tracks on groomers of any pitch. It’s plenty quick enough to negotiate bumps and has enough float to finagle powder, but the V-Shape 10 is at heart a Frontside carver masquerading as an all-terrain ski. Everything about it meant to make carving easier. For fulfilling its promise to make skiing easier, we again award the V-Shape 10 a Silver Skier Selection.