As sometimes happens when well-balanced skis stay current for several seasons, our scoring system will identify it as a Finesse model one year and Power model the next.   A ski with the impeccable manners of the Head Venturi 95 dons the role of powerhouse one moment and a contented cosseter the next, whatever the moment requires.

The key character traits that dominate of the Venturi 95’s comportment are its voluptuous sidecut and willingness to bend longitudinally without budging a micron torsionally. Its unusually deep shape loves to lay down tracks on the groom. What’s amazing is this aptitude translates so well to off-road adventures. It’s a gas to ski crud with the same riding-the-rails carving action usually reserved for groomers.

The most prominent impression left by the Venturi 95 is of smoothness that remains unruffled no matter where it’s led. It holds an edge even when there’s no surface to edge into. When all semblance of softness has been pounded away, the Venturi 95 doesn’t bat an eye but continues to spool off medium-radius arcs as easily as a Vegas dealer spins out cards.

The Venturi 95 pulls off this neat trick by using a proprietary design that adheres a matrix of shock-sucking elastomer covered in a fiberglass shell to both the tip and tail. This feature is to shock what black holes are to light.

If you’re looking for power that doesn’t mask its will to conquer, Head’s Monster 98 is the undiluted deal. If the Venturi 95 sounds too soft for your style, the Monster 98 has an in-the-fall-line attitude that won’t wilt under stress.

No one has better summarized the Venturi 95’s virtues than Telluride’s Boot Doctor, Bob Gleason: “A confidence-building ski, accurate, smooth and predictable [with] a clean, comfortable ride in varying types of terrain and snow.”