2022 Head Kore 80 X

Light, fun, and easy to use, the Head Kore 80 X is a fantastic choice for intermediate and advancing skiers who are spending most of their time on groomed terrain. Whether it's freshly groomed or end of the day crud, the Kore 80 X is new for 2022 and will allow you to spend most of your time in a carved turn with quickness and efficiency. Built with a wood composite core and a graphene laminate, these skis are sneaky-stiff, but still have enough forgiveness for skiers who are still learning to bend a ski.

At 80 mm underfoot, these skis are wide enough to handle some off-trail adventures, but still have the torsional stiffness and edge grip that are required to carve clean and round turns. In the 170 cm length, these skis generate a 13.2-meter turn radius, and while that's on the short side for sure, it'll definitely encourage skiers to make the most of their runs and their day, creating clean and round arcs no matter what. Head does a fantastic job in making light skis that behave like they're a lot more stable than they seem, and these Kore 80 X's are a shining example of that. Tip rocker and a bit in the tail make it more maneuverable and smeary in softer snow while the camber underfoot holds tight to the edge and makes it feel like a much higher-end ski for sure.

On the 170, Bob St.Pierre noted that it skied true to size, but was definitely too short for his size. At 6'3" and 225 pounds, Bob is a bit outsized for this ski, but the strong build held him up pretty well regardless. "I'm always pretty surprised by these low to mid-80's underfoot 'intermediate' skis. The Kore 80 X has a lot of positive attributes for sure, and I'm stoked to see it added to the Head lineup. I think it's got more of an all-mountain personality versus the V-Shape series, and the Kore name gives it a good reputation to stand on." Bob scored the ski 4's out of 5 for quickness, maneuverability, torsional stiffness, and edge grip, with 3's for versatility, stability, forgiveness, and overall impression. These are some good scores for the size that he skied, and we're all about it.

For intermediate skiers who are looking for that all-mountain ski with a high-end feel, the Head Kore 80 X is a fantastic choice. The composite core lines up well with the graphene to get that top-end feel, making skiers feel like they're on a top-end ski that happens to be quite maneuverable and easy to use. If you spend most of your time on groomed terrain but want some extra width and shape for the off-trail times, the Head Kore 80 X is about as good as it gets.