The 2020 Head Super Joy is a pure groomer crusher. These things were built to be stiff, responsive, light, and strong. Built much like the Kore series skis but with an on-trail shape and profile, the Super Joy will either meet or exceed all of your on-trail carving wishes. With a 75 mm waist width, the balance point required is more in line with advanced skiers, but the lightness makes it accessible for intermediate skiers as well. Starting with a Karuba wood core, Head adds Graphene and carbon for the best possible reaction. There’s no metal in this great carver, and that’s just fine not only with our testers, but the intended audience as well. Head is shooting for the light weight carver, and they’ve done a fine job with the Super Joy. We’ve got a pretty short turn radius here, coming in at 12.2 meters at the 163 cm length. The shapely Super Joy certainly prefers to be on edge, making turns versus riding flat and fast.
Allison Ruschp skied the 163 and found it to be the right length for her. She had a high score of 5 out of 5 for forgiveness, showing that the ski liked to be engaged and flexed for the duration of the turn. Other high scores of 4 out of 5 were given for quickness, maneuverability, and playfulness. We’d expect the quickness, as the ski has no metal and is narrow underfoot, giving the skier very little in the way of resistance in the turn. As such, Alli notes that the Super Joy is “great for the lady that is working on finishing her turns.” That tail really likes to see you all the way through, and it sounds like it’s more effective at slower speeds due to the shorter turn radius.
Also on the 163, Kristi Brown found it to be “short for me but skis super-stable and confident.” All of her scores, with the exception of flotation, received 4’s out of 5, so even at that shorter length, Kristi seems pretty impressed. Her quotes back that up: “The Super Joy skis exactly as named—turns pleasingly with no surprises.” And as far as the wider and more shaped tips, these result in “easy entry to the turn.” Kristi also notes that the skis are very smooth, and for a front-side carving ski, this is a good thing.
Another 163 cm skier, Darcy Mangan, liked the size and versatility of the Super Joy, and her overall impression score was a 5 out of 5, so that’s a good sign. Darcy had some bullet point notes in regard to the Super Joy: “Excellent re-design! Sharp-looking ski! Easy turn initiation. Good edge hold. Playful on the sides of the trail. Super Joy = Super Fun! Great for advancing intermediates to grow into.” All good stuff from Darcy!
Nifer Hoehn found her 163 cm test length to be appropriate, and she had some high scores, too. 4’s out of 5 were given for stability, quickness, forgiveness, edge hold, and overall impression. This is pretty much right in line with what Head was out to do, and it sounds like they’ve done it well, in Nifer’s mind. “Good, solid all-around ski. Good in most categories. Good responsiveness, nice energy coming out of the turn, and easy to maneuver.” Nifer uses the adjective “good” a lot, but the Head Good Joy doesn’t quite have the same ring as Super Joy. We’ll let it slide.
Advancing and aspiring carvers who are not looking for a beefy ski that’ll weigh them down should take a long, hard look at the 2020 Head Super Joy. These skis have a great blend of lightness and stiffness that a huge number of skiers will enjoy. They’re quick and fun, and super-versatile for a front side ski.
