To the short list of life’s certainties – death and taxes – you can add the security on edge of the Supershape i.Speed. Although it’s shaped for short turns, it can bolt down the fall line in a heartbeat and never break a sweat. The Sport Loft tester who goes by colorful sobriquet Rico Suave anointed the Supershape i.Speed “the funnest Super Shape of all! Sweet, playful and butter smooth.”
The tapered forebody and mildly rockered baseline are ready to party off-piste, but with two Titanal laminates on board, the Orb is so strong on edge it doesn’t really care where you send it. Its tip design obliges the Orb to be loose at the top of a laid-over turn, but once it settles into the arc it’s as solid as the Mont Blanc massif. The once rebellious boys of the Chamonix backcountry now are making perfectly balanced skis that any member of the ski culture can climb on and relate to immediately.
The Dictator 4.0 isn’t the lightest ski in the category, but it feels exceptionally feathery on the snow. With a square tail that’s an endangered species among Powder skis, the Dictator 4.0 stays connected to the turn until it’s pulled off the assignment. This gives it a sense of connectedness on-trail that eludes others of the Powder persuasion.
When it comes to building a better slalom ski, Head never takes a day off. Every year it tirelessly tinkers with the perfect formula, trying to solve a riddle that continues to vex them: why is it Head makes the best speed-event skis in the world but can’t come close to producing similar results in slalom? And every year I face a parallel-world conundrum: why does a ski that comes up short on the FIS level continue to thoroughly bedazzle our crew? Every tester who tries it steps off it in a trance, hypnotized by its across-the-board excellence.
It’s not necessary to have competed alongside The Curv’s designers, all World Cup veterans, to appreciate The Curv DTX, but it’s fair to say it favors those with some race training on their resume. The best Technical skis recreate the sensations of racing without the complications imposed by FIS-sanctioned shapes and World-Cup-level flexes. The Curv DTX makes it easy to carve like a champ: the triple radius sidecut pulls the skier into the arc on autopilot, and its softer flex allows it to be decambered by someone who doesn’t train every day.