From what I've heard, there is no middle ground on the newish Head Joy series introduced in 2015 for the 2016 season. Women seem to love them or hate them. After an impromptu mid-Atlantic demo I had no doubt about which camp I was in.
About me: 5’1", 135ish, age 49, intermediate cruiser still learning and finding her ski legs.
Usual slopes: Mid-Atlantic Virginia or WV; occasionally Tahoe (early April this year...woo-hoo!)
Current daily driver: Elan Twilight 84 in 159; 128-84-108; TR 13
The skis: Head Absolute Joy in 153; 129-79-109; TR 12
Construction: Graphene Women's Camber, ERA 3.0 Super Light Weight Distribution Power Sidewall Jacket Superlite Composite Core Highly transparent UHM base Allride Rocker
Testing conditions:
Rare East Coast powder day and uber-crowded at Wisp Resort in McHenry, MD. Cold temps in the teens. Very windy, with powder on top of boilerplate and snow coming down all day. I hadn't demoed yet this season and was itching to try a wider ski for the powder, piles, chop, crud and scraped-down/blown off hardpack.
Everyone and their mother, sister, aunt and neighbor seemed to be on the mountain that late January Sunday. Lots of beginners, folks who haven't skied in 10-20 years, and boarders to dodge added to the fun. (Not!) My Elan Twilights were already bucking me a bit in some of the chop and crud by mid-morning and didn't feel as solid as I would have liked on the icy spots. All the wider-waisted skis in my size were gone, and the Absolute Joy with a narrower waist was my only demo option.
I almost took a pass due to the conditions and the specs being somewhat close to my Elans, but the young woman in the demo shop said she really liked the Absolute Joys. She assured me that they would feel different from the Elans, and that the shovels and rocker were good for a few inches of powder and would still serve me well on the ice.
The verdict:
It was an ideal demo day with so many different conditions depending on where you were on the hill, and since it was super-crowded I got to put the Joys through their paces even more than usual.
These skis are so light they almost seemed comically light -- and the tips seemed comically wide at first. I was disappointed they didn't have them in the 158, but I did fine on the 153. They were very turny and there were a few occasions where my tips almost crossed here and there. I was glad I didn't go longer; no need since I wasn't planning to do steeps or go fast.
The 2 - 3 inches of fresh powder quickly morphed into blown-off hardpack and ice. In addition to the powder and ice there was chop, crud, some death cookies here and there, occasional bumps, plus dust on crust and dust on ice. And later in the day they chose to blow snow on many runs to get a better base.
The Absolute Joys rocked it in everything from fabulous grin-inducing powder to the icy, choppy, cruddy, windblown, dust on crust nastiness, and kept me upright even in almost whiteout conditions between real snow and snow guns. In short, the Joys made this cautious intermediate feel like an actual skier.
They loved the fresh powder, cruised over or through the crud and chop, and handled the ice and hardpack without batting an eye. And did I mention that I don't love crowds? They gave me confidence at new to me resort where dodging folks who bit off more hill than they should have -- on both green and blue runs -- was a constant.
The AJs were absolutely smooth and stable, and just plain fun. They loved doing short and medium smeared turns and they bit into the icy patches. I loved that they made me feel like a better skier. Didn't test them on blacks or significant steeps, but some of the blues and greens were pitchy in places and several of the longer greens skied more like blues on some other Mid-A hills.
I don't do bumps, but it was bumpy here and there due to the wind and the conditions. I was going much faster than usual since they gave me so much confidence, and I ended up unintentionally catching some air on several bumps. Thankfully, I stayed upright. They were that stable.
On pitchier narrow Mid-A runs my usual M.O. with crowds is to move over to the side and wait for some room to make wider turns and go down slowly, but I told myself to trust the Joys. I'm so glad I did.
My time on the AJ made me want to try all of the other intermediate to advanced Head Joy skis. I definitely want to track some down in Tahoe.
To sum it up: Fun and confidence-inspiring, with a pretty generous sweet spot. Ladies, demo the Joys if you have an opportunity. Men, encourage any cautious green-lower blue women in your lives to give these a try if an opportunity arises. They are amazingly light, yet stable and powerful. And love may be in the air. Cheers to more Joy-ful skiing!
About me: 5’1", 135ish, age 49, intermediate cruiser still learning and finding her ski legs.
Usual slopes: Mid-Atlantic Virginia or WV; occasionally Tahoe (early April this year...woo-hoo!)
Current daily driver: Elan Twilight 84 in 159; 128-84-108; TR 13
The skis: Head Absolute Joy in 153; 129-79-109; TR 12
Construction: Graphene Women's Camber, ERA 3.0 Super Light Weight Distribution Power Sidewall Jacket Superlite Composite Core Highly transparent UHM base Allride Rocker
Testing conditions:
Rare East Coast powder day and uber-crowded at Wisp Resort in McHenry, MD. Cold temps in the teens. Very windy, with powder on top of boilerplate and snow coming down all day. I hadn't demoed yet this season and was itching to try a wider ski for the powder, piles, chop, crud and scraped-down/blown off hardpack.
Everyone and their mother, sister, aunt and neighbor seemed to be on the mountain that late January Sunday. Lots of beginners, folks who haven't skied in 10-20 years, and boarders to dodge added to the fun. (Not!) My Elan Twilights were already bucking me a bit in some of the chop and crud by mid-morning and didn't feel as solid as I would have liked on the icy spots. All the wider-waisted skis in my size were gone, and the Absolute Joy with a narrower waist was my only demo option.
I almost took a pass due to the conditions and the specs being somewhat close to my Elans, but the young woman in the demo shop said she really liked the Absolute Joys. She assured me that they would feel different from the Elans, and that the shovels and rocker were good for a few inches of powder and would still serve me well on the ice.
The verdict:
It was an ideal demo day with so many different conditions depending on where you were on the hill, and since it was super-crowded I got to put the Joys through their paces even more than usual.
These skis are so light they almost seemed comically light -- and the tips seemed comically wide at first. I was disappointed they didn't have them in the 158, but I did fine on the 153. They were very turny and there were a few occasions where my tips almost crossed here and there. I was glad I didn't go longer; no need since I wasn't planning to do steeps or go fast.
The 2 - 3 inches of fresh powder quickly morphed into blown-off hardpack and ice. In addition to the powder and ice there was chop, crud, some death cookies here and there, occasional bumps, plus dust on crust and dust on ice. And later in the day they chose to blow snow on many runs to get a better base.
The Absolute Joys rocked it in everything from fabulous grin-inducing powder to the icy, choppy, cruddy, windblown, dust on crust nastiness, and kept me upright even in almost whiteout conditions between real snow and snow guns. In short, the Joys made this cautious intermediate feel like an actual skier.
They loved the fresh powder, cruised over or through the crud and chop, and handled the ice and hardpack without batting an eye. And did I mention that I don't love crowds? They gave me confidence at new to me resort where dodging folks who bit off more hill than they should have -- on both green and blue runs -- was a constant.
The AJs were absolutely smooth and stable, and just plain fun. They loved doing short and medium smeared turns and they bit into the icy patches. I loved that they made me feel like a better skier. Didn't test them on blacks or significant steeps, but some of the blues and greens were pitchy in places and several of the longer greens skied more like blues on some other Mid-A hills.
I don't do bumps, but it was bumpy here and there due to the wind and the conditions. I was going much faster than usual since they gave me so much confidence, and I ended up unintentionally catching some air on several bumps. Thankfully, I stayed upright. They were that stable.
On pitchier narrow Mid-A runs my usual M.O. with crowds is to move over to the side and wait for some room to make wider turns and go down slowly, but I told myself to trust the Joys. I'm so glad I did.
My time on the AJ made me want to try all of the other intermediate to advanced Head Joy skis. I definitely want to track some down in Tahoe.
To sum it up: Fun and confidence-inspiring, with a pretty generous sweet spot. Ladies, demo the Joys if you have an opportunity. Men, encourage any cautious green-lower blue women in your lives to give these a try if an opportunity arises. They are amazingly light, yet stable and powerful. And love may be in the air. Cheers to more Joy-ful skiing!
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