The Head Super Joy is a pretty complete carving ski for ladies who are looking to spend most of their time on groomed terrain in search of the perfect arc. Thanks to Head’s ability to make a light ski that also acts and behaves like a much higher-end product, the Super Joy is all you will need for front side performance. It’s more of a one-dimensional ski in this regard, as the 75 mm waist doesn’t really allow for much in terms of versatility and off-trail performance, so we’re pretty stoked to see that the Super Joy does excel in the area in which it’s supposed to. That narrow waist generates a lot of energy and grip, and makes it so the skier can really bend and flex into the carve with supreme and total confidence. This makes progression a lot easier, and encourages the skier to take the next step in recreational carving and on-trail skiing. Built with karuba, carbon, and graphene, these skis have an impressive amount of stiffness and response to them, all while keeping the weight to a minimum. It’s all about the ease of turning with these skis, and skiers who aren’t looking to work too hard to get that ski up on edge will love the compatibility of the Super Joy.
ROCKER PROFILE
Rocker / Camber
CORE MATERIALS
Carbon Sandwich Cap Construction, ERA 3.0, Graphene
PREFERRED TERRAIN
Groomers
Alli Ruschp skied the 163 and found it to be the right length for her. She gave a top score of 5 out of 5 for forgiveness, with 4’s for quickness, maneuverability, and playfulness. All other scores were 3’s so a pretty nice span and spread coming from Alli here. While this was not Alli’s favorite ski, she did note that “a beginner or intermediate skier that does not want to put much effort into their turns will really love this ski. It’s great for the lady who is working on finishing her turns. For more aggressive skiers, it’s a bit difficult to stay on edge, especially at speed and on firm snow.” The light weight of the ski does eventually reach its breaking point, and Alli notes that up to that point, it’s a fun and easy ski, but when pushed, you can find its limit. Also on the 163, Kristi Brown felt the ski was too short, but still noted that it felt stable and instilled confidence. She gave all 4’s for scores, with the exception of an n/a for flotation, as these really aren’t meant for the pow. “The Super Joy skis exactly as named—turn pleasing, no surprises, easy entry, and is a smooth operator.” For a 75 mm underfoot ski with no metal, this is about as good as we can get.
Nifer Hoehn, on the 163, felt it was an appropriate size and skied true to length. She gave top marks of 4 out of 5 for stability, quickness, maneuverability, forgiveness, torsional stiffness, edge hold, and overall impression. 3’s for versatility and playfulness highlight the more one-dimensional nature of the ski. Nifer calls it “good, solid and an all-around carving ski. It was good in most of the categories. Good responsiveness, nice energy coming out of the turn, and easy to maneuver. I would recommend this as a good buy and a good performing ski.” Lots of “goods” coming out of Nifer, and that’s a nice place to be in these mid-level cruisers.
Lady skiers who spend most of their time on-trail and in a carved turn will gravitate to a ski like the Head Super Joy. The thing that makes this ski stand out is the weight and the ease of use, but also the stiffness, grip, and responsiveness. It’s an interesting combination, and one that Head has been perfecting over the past few years, successfully, with the Super Joy.
