The Kore 93 is the narrowest in a brand new Freeski line from Head. These skis are built using a unique combination of graphene, Koroyd, and a Carbon Sandwich Cap Construction technique. At the core of the ski is a super light Karuba wood, and the “Topless Tech” refers to the ski not actually having a top sheet. All of this works together to create a ski that’s impressively lightweight, yet surprisingly strong and powerful. While we generally don’t focus on graphics, we do have to mention that these skis look absolutely amazing with their muted base color and subtle bright highlights. With so many metal all mountain skis it’s interesting to see Head go a different route: as light as possible without major sacrifices. All of our testers on the Kore 93 skied the 180 cm length.
Mike Anglin certainly appreciate the light weight that Head has achieved, commenting that the Kore 93 “felt like feathers on my feet.” Mike scored the Kore 93 5 out of 5 for flotation, playfulness, forgiveness, and overall impression. It’s also important to note that even the categories that didn’t receive a 5 still got high scores, a sure sign that someone really liked a ski. Mike continued to describe the Kore 93 as having a “real playful feel that adapted to the snow as it changed.” Mike thinks that upper intermediate to expert skiers can all enjoy the Kore 93. He thought it “handled all turn shapes well, but excels at medium to long turns.”
Joe Cutts and Bob St. Pierre were both kind of waiting for a highlight to emerge from the Kore 93, but instead they both found it did just about everything well. While it’s easy to look for a standout performance feature of a ski, it’s also very nice to have a ski that’s just well rounded. Joe described it as having a “steady eddy feel,” and he also thought it was “surprisingly burly for such a light construction.” Bob ultimately decided the highlight of the ski was its overall feel, commenting that it “did everything quite nicely, has great graphics, and a great overall feel.”
We think Justin Perry hit the nail on the head when describing the Kore 93. When Head describes the Kore 93 they say it should be able to handle deep snow, tracked snow, bumped up snow, groomed snow, and everything in between. Justin certainly seemed to agree, as he called it “an amazing ski for a one-ski-quiver kind of person. It held great on the hard groomers, yet cut through the cream cheese. It has a smaller turn radius, but can open up at any opportunity you have.” Perhaps this is why Mike felt it excelled at medium to long turns despite Justin accurately pointing out that it does have a turn radius of 16.4 m at the 180 cm length.
We think Head did a great job on the new Kore collection. Skiers looking for something lightweight that still feels supportive will really enjoy these skis. They’re less fatiguing than a heavier ski with metal and although they might not have all the strength and power that comes along with a heavier ski, they have plenty for most skiers. The Kore 93, as Justin mentioned, could easily act as a one-ski-quiver, especially for an eastern skier, or a western skier who doesn’t feel like they’re always skiing powder. After going through the reactions and responses from our testers we can understand why Head claims it handles such a wide range of terrain.
