The Wild Joy is a new addition to the Head women’s Joy collection that’s made up of a range of all mountain skis. The Wild Joy sits next to the Great Joy as the second widest ski in the collection with its 90 mm waist width. These skis all use women’s specific construction. The Wild Joy, more specifically, uses Head’s Graphene Koroyd Carbon Construction (very similar to what’s seen in the new Kore collection) and super light weight distribution through the core. On paper it seems like it would be a tremendously versatile all mountain ski for women that’s not too heavy, not too weak, but offering a nice mix of performance. What did our testers think?
Kristi Brown thinks maybe they should change the name of the ski, as her very first comment was “the wild joy is endless and consistent joy!” Okay, so the Endless and Consistent Joy might be a bit of a mouthful for the name of a ski, but we think that’s a great response to its performance. Kristi described the Wild Joy as being an “absolute pleasure” to ski and “exhilarating and always satisfying.” Kristi also commented that she “loves the intuitiveness of this ski,” an excellent characteristic for an all mountain ski that should, in theory, be able to ski a little bit of everything. Kristi skied the 163 cm Wild Joy.
Carly Monahan also tested the 163 cm length and found that the construction of the Wild Joy provided plenty of stability despite the ski feeling so light. It “skied better and felt more solid the harder I pushed it, yet still felt fairly forgiving and smooth through various speeds and turn shapes.” That sounds pretty darn good to us and really describes an ideal all mountain ski for a lot of different skiers. A ski that can feel both solid and forgiving is a ski that gives you the confidence needed to ski such a wide variety of terrain. Any woman that likes to explore the whole mountain should consider the Wild Joy. Carly added that she thought it felt “burly, but not planky.”
Like Carly and Kristi, Caroline Kessler also tested the 163 cm. Although there are certainly skis out there with more torsional stiffness (although those skis are going to be heavier too) Caroline found the Wild Joy to be stronger than anything else she tested. The Wild Joy “held an edge better and was stiffer than any other women’s specific all mountain ski (that I tested). It’s very versatile; able to edge hard and stay stable at high speeds, but also quick turning and poppy.” We’re noticing a trend here… are you?
If you’re not, we think Chloe Wexler will set you straight. “It’s not too stiff, it’s not too soft, it’s like a Goldilocks ski: just right.” Chloe “really liked this ski,” and she made that obvious in her scores giving it 5 out of 5 for quickness, maneuverability, torsional stiffness, and overall impression. We love to point out anytime a ski gets high scores for both torsional stiffness and maneuverability as sometimes those can be antonyms in a ski. Chloe described it as feeling “fast edge to edge, stable when laying out GS turns, having good vibration dampening, and a good feel on snow.” Chloe tested a shorter length, the 158 cm.
We think advanced intermediates and up will all really appreciate the performance of the Wild Joy. It has the stability and power to rival skis with metal in their construction, but is so much lighter it’s much easier to swing and flick side to side than a heavier ski. We think it’s a fantastic addition to a line of skis that has already developed a following among women skiers. Heck, we even know some men that ski them!
