Head Skis

Head skis are the core of levelninesports.com. We have had a great relationship with the skis and the company for a decade.

Head Skis is a company that’s been around for over 60 years. In 1950, Howard Head took a ski trip and was frustrated to realize that skis were still being made from wood, and hadn’t really been modernized yet. He set out to change this and eventually created skis from more modern materials, like plastic and metals. This essentially started the revolution in skiing. From then on, Head Skis has been a leader in the ski industry.

If you go skiing in Europe you will notice Head skis carving up the mountain everywhere. The reason is, Head makes incredible skis, and they make a ski for everyone. No matter who you are, or what your style of riding is, there are Head Skis for you. So it's no wonder that from top to bottom you see skis like the XRC tearing up the groomers and ice with the best of them.

Most skiers can find a few Head skis that would work for them. Even if you’re crazy good at skiing, there’s the Head i.Supershape Magnum. If you’re into the park or powder, then you’re also in luck. Maybe it's the brand’s American roots, but someone working at Head know what it takes to make a freestyle ski. Taking cues from their infamous Mojo line of skis, Head has continued to create an entire line of freestyle skis that encompasses a wide range of skier types and abilities. So now that you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, take a second to read some details about Head skis, and find out which is right for you!

Let’s start with Head Xenon and XRC series skis, which are designed for all mountain enjoyment with a decided emphasis on carving groomed runs. They have the right shape to easily make perfect turns no matter what your skill level, running the gamut from low intermediate to expert. Though they are designed mainly for on trail fun, they have enough shape to enable occasionally skiing in the powder or crud. Make no mistake though these skis excel on groomers, hard pack, and ice. Because of this most all mountain Eastern skiers and Western skiers who don't spend much of their time off groomed runs also are best off with Xenon/XRC skis.

Next up are the Head Shape series skis, which are designed for carving. This series of skis comes in a full range of abilities, though here at Level Nine, we’re only carrying the Shape 1 and Shape 3, which are the entry level skis from the series. These skis are soft and narrow with a lot of sidecut making these skis great for beginners who need a friendly ski that they can learn with. Like all Head skis though, the Shape series is great at holding an edge and taking you all over the mountain.

Probably the coolest skis that Head currently makes are the i.Peaks. If you’ve been paying attention to ski technology lately, then you’ve definitely heard about rocker and early rise. The benefits of these technologies are two fold. First and foremost, early rise provides additional float in soft snow. Secondly, early rise in the tip helps turn initiation, as the front of your ski is already pointed into the arc of the turn. There are drawbacks though, as these technologies reduce the amount of contact that your ski has with the snow, which can decrease stability. As a response to all of this, Head utilizes Flow Ride technology on their i.Peak skis. Essentially, this means that the ski doesn’t have early rise, but it has portion of the ski near the tip milled out, creating a flex point. In turns, this acts the same as early rise, and carving becomes more fluid. Additionally, the contact length of the ski remains the same, helping maintain stability. Finally, because Flow Ride allows the ski to turn easier, Head was able to make these skis pretty fat while maintaining a low turn radius. So what does this all mean? It means the i.Peak skis are great all mountain skis that can hold their own on both groomers and in the powder. Currently, we have the i.Peak 78 and i.Peak 90 in stock. Also, if you're a female looking for a similar ski, check out the Mya 6 or the Mya 8.

The Rev series is a newer line of skis from Head and is taking the place of the i.Peak series. The Rev's open up the "all mountain" category into "all country" by incorporating ERA 3.0 technology. This means that the REV skis have Rocker for added float and maneuverability. A Progressive radius for effortless turning on groomers and Intellirise Rebound for reduced vibrations and increased stability. Basically these skis are building on the success of the i.Peak series and adding features that will increase their performance in any terrain or conditions. We currently stock the Rev 75, Rev 80, Rev 85 Pro and the Rev 90.

If you’re more of a park rat than anything, it’s worth checking out Head’s park skis. Taking what they learned from the Mojo series, Head now makes a full range of twin tip skis. If you were a big fan of the Mojo 90, try checking out the Head Oblivion Skis. This is essentially the same ski, but with a few tweaks here and there to improve its performance such as tip and tail rocker for buttering and some help staying on top of soft snow. For our junior/tween park rippers, there are the Big Heir and the Ethan Too. These two models are going to give young skiers similar pop and response as their bigger counterparts to keep progressing their tricks everyday they go out skiing.

And last but definitely not least (in fact, probably the most), are Head’s Powder Skis. Never one to be left out, Head has responded to consumer demand with a series of fat twin tips. All of Head’s powder skis are made with sandwich construction for excellent dampening and rebound. Some of the larger skis feature rocker to maximize float. And, of course, they are all made to the exacting design and manufacturing specifications of all Head skis. Recently, many of these powder skis and Mojo skis have turned into a line of skis in collaboration with the band Motorhead, including the Rock 'n Roll (formerly the Mojo 94, John 94, Johnny) and the Hammered Skis. These are Head's answer to the modern rockered powder skis such as the S7 and Bentchetler. You can be sure the Hammered's will ski great on all terrain, like all Heads have for years.

If you don't see any Head Skis that you want, give us a yell we'll find the one for you.