Head Great Joy

[Robyn]

I set out this season to fine a replacement for my 5ish year old Auras as a daily driver ski. I've loved them very much but I knew they were reaching the end of their life as a daily ski. I had also been disappointed with their ability to really grab an edge on firm snow which had also done some damage to my confidence at higher speeds.

Me: 5'6" on the heavier side, childhood racer, former racing coach, will ski (almost) anything, love bumps, powder, steeps and the occasional fast groomer. Trees are growing on me. Home mountain is Copper Mountain.

Honestly, I haven't kept up with gear over the last few years as I got busier in my daily life so I went into the project with no idea where to start. I saw that Outdoor Divas (a local women's sporting gear shop) was offering a demo day in mid-December so I wandered into their shop the day before to get some thoughts on what to ski. The woman working immediately raved about these skis so I put them on my list along with a few others. They were the first skis I demoed and I fell in love. Conditions were weird and included ice, frozen chicken heads and slush. I said they were weird. I skied a few others and decided to take the Great Joys out one more time to see how they felt after the others which sealed the deal. I purchased the 163 and the matching Tyrolia Attack 12 binding the next day. I debated on the 163 vs the 168 but since I was able to rip as fast as I wanted on the 163 demo I decided to go with it as the shorter length would be helpful in trees and bumps.

I've now skied these around 10 days and I am head (hehe) over heels in love. I can set an edge and fly on steep and hard slopes, maneuver bumps with ease and fluidity (or so a friend says, I often don't feel like I'm fluid) bust through crud and I barely notice and ski powder with ease. I can change up my turn radius at will and they are lightweight yet burly.

I had lost so much confidence in my skiing after a few years of challenges including health, being hit by snowboarders and skiing with some very slow athletes I was coaching for too many days. I had gotten to the point where I felt like I couldn't keep up with many of my ski buddies which was really difficult lt for me. This week I spent 3 days skiing at Crested Butte this week with many of them and had no issues keeping up. If I was following it was mostly by choice (Pinto is a lot of fun to follow around a mountain). I feel like I'm back, better than ever, and have the sticks to do what I want to do.

I highly recommend you give these a try.

 

[litterbug]

I've been wondering how the Great Joy compares with the Aura, so thanks for answering the question. I have 97mm skis which I enjoy, but they're worse than Auras on the hard stuff, so I've considered trying the Heads.

At the rate I'm going, and assuming I like them as much as other people have reported, I might as well buy all three.

 

[Ski CT]

I set out this season to fine a replacement for my 5ish year old Auras as a daily driver ski. I've loved them very much but I knew they were reaching the end of their life as a daily ski. I had also been disappointed with their ability to really grab an edge on firm snow which had also done some damage to my confidence at higher speeds.

Me: 5'6" on the heavier side, childhood racer, former racing coach, will ski (almost) anything, love bumps, powder, steeps and the occasional fast groomer. Trees are growing on me. Home mountain is Copper Mountain.

Honestly, I haven't kept up with gear over the last few years as I got busier in my daily life so I went into the project with no idea where to start. I saw that Outdoor Divas (a local women's sporting gear shop) was offering a demo day in mid-December so I wandered into their shop the day before to get some thoughts on what to ski. The woman working immediately raved about these skis so I put them on my list along with a few others. They were the first skis I demoed and I fell in love. Conditions were weird and included ice, frozen chicken heads and slush. I said they were weird. I skied a few others and decided to take the Great Joys out one more time to see how they felt after the others which sealed the deal. I purchased the 163 and the matching Tyrolia Attack 12 binding the next day. I debated on the 163 vs the 168 but since I was able to rip as fast as I wanted on the 163 demo I decided to go with it as the shorter length would be helpful in trees and bumps.

I've now skied these around 10 days and I am head (hehe) over heels in love. I can set an edge and fly on steep and hard slopes, maneuver bumps with ease and fluidity (or so a friend says, I often don't feel like I'm fluid) bust through crud and I barely notice and ski powder with ease. I can change up my turn radius at will and they are lightweight yet burly.

I had lost so much confidence in my skiing after a few years of challenges including health, being hit by snowboarders and skiing with some very slow athletes I was coaching for too many days. I had gotten to the point where I felt like I couldn't keep up with many of my ski buddies which was really difficult lt for me. This week I spent 3 days skiing at Crested Butte this week with many of them and had no issues keeping up. If I was following it was mostly by choice (Pinto is a lot of fun to follow around a mountain). I feel like I'm back, better than ever, and have the sticks to do what I want to do. I highly recommend you give these a try.[/QUOTE]


Great report! I love my Super Joys, wish I could try the whole line, what a hoot that would be.

 

[Skisailor]

I set out this season to fine a replacement for my 5ish year old Auras as a daily driver ski. I've loved them very much but I knew they were reaching the end of their life as a daily ski. I had also been disappointed with their ability to really grab an edge on firm snow which had also done some damage to my confidence at higher speeds.

Me: 5'6" on the heavier side, childhood racer, former racing coach, will ski (almost) anything, love bumps, powder, steeps and the occasional fast groomer. Trees are growing on me. Home mountain is Copper Mountain.

Honestly, I haven't kept up with gear over the last few years as I got busier in my daily life so I went into the project with no idea where to start. I saw that Outdoor Divas (a local women's sporting gear shop) was offering a demo day in mid-December so I wandered into their shop the day before to get some thoughts on what to ski. The woman working immediately raved about these skis so I put them on my list along with a few others. They were the first skis I demoed and I fell in love. Conditions were weird and included ice, frozen chicken heads and slush. I said they were weird. I skied a few others and decided to take the Great Joys out one more time to see how they felt after the others which sealed the deal. I purchased the 163 and the matching Tyrolia Attack 12 binding the next day. I debated on the 163 vs the 168 but since I was able to rip as fast as I wanted on the 163 demo I decided to go with it as the shorter length would be helpful in trees and bumps.

I've now skied these around 10 days and I am head (hehe) over heels in love. I can set an edge and fly on steep and hard slopes, maneuver bumps with ease and fluidity (or so a friend says, I often don't feel like I'm fluid) bust through crud and I barely notice and ski powder with ease. I can change up my turn radius at will and they are lightweight yet burly.

I had lost so much confidence in my skiing after a few years of challenges including health, being hit by snowboarders and skiing with some very slow athletes I was coaching for too many days. I had gotten to the point where I felt like I couldn't keep up with many of my ski buddies which was really difficult lt for me. This week I spent 3 days skiing at Crested Butte this week with many of them and had no issues keeping up. If I was following it was mostly by choice (Pinto is a lot of fun to follow around a mountain). I feel like I'm back, better than ever, and have the sticks to do what I want to do.

I highly recommend you give these a try.

Really interesting. I demoed the Total Joy at 85 underfoot and liked them, but . . . They were kind of in between. Not skinny enough to really be their absolute best at carving and not burly enough (for me) to deal with snow piles and crud. So I'm wondering about the Great Joy now. Will have to try them!!

Same width underfoot as my Nordica Hell and Backs but a lot lighter! Should be interesting.

 

[maggie198]

I've enjoyed all the Joy series I've been able to demo so far. I've not tried the Great Joy, as it looked too wide to be a daily driver for the east. But my favorite demoed new ski so far this year? The new Volkl Aura! Who woulda thunk?

Head has a nice line with the Joy series!

 

[Skisailor]

I've enjoyed all the Joy series I've been able to demo so far. I've not tried the Great Joy, as it looked too wide to be a daily driver for the east. But my favorite demoed new ski so far this year? The new Volkl Aura! Who woulda thunk?

Head has a nice line with the Joy series!

I would have thunk it!!

Still love that early non rockered Aura. Was on them for quite a few years. Great ski!

 

[maggie198]

What really surprised me, was that the majority of opinions I've read about the new Auras (mostly here) have been in favor of the old, non-rockered Aura rather than the new Aura. I found the new Aura "almost" perfect. Just a bit too tiring on my old legs.

 

[RX2SKI]

Glad to hear you got your mojo back.

I definitely need to do some demos from Outdoor Divas. I want to try some skis in the mid 80s and I will put this one on my list to try.
And remember, if trees are starting to grow on you, your moving too slowly.

 

[Robyn]

These are 98 so they don't fit you mid-80s requirement.

 

[Pinky Smash]

Cool! This is really interesting! I wanna give a try.

 

[litterbug]

What really surprised me, was that the majority of opinions I've read about the new Auras (mostly here) have been in favor of the old, non-rockered Aura rather than the new Aura. I found the new Aura "almost" perfect. Just a bit too tiring on my old legs.

That might be because not many of us have demoed the new Aura. Last spring I had a ton of fun on last year's Aura, but because more than one reviewer has loved them, I look forward to demoing on some demo day.

 

[lisamamot]

What really surprised me, was that the majority of opinions I've read about the new Auras (mostly here) have been in favor of the old, non-rockered Aura rather than the new Aura. I found the new Aura "almost" perfect. Just a bit too tiring on my old legs.

I have never skied the non-rockered version, but I really enjoyed the 2015 Aura 163. Skies so much narrower than the 100mm waist, and I liked it better than the Head Great Joy (98 under foot), especially on the ice. It was easy to get on edge and tackled everything beautifully - I skied it in New England on a day of quite variable conditions. It bit ice, blew through crud, and handled the pile ups and soft stuff. I would have loved it to be a bit longer is all, but I couldn't find the 170 to demo. Great ski if the sizing works for you!

 

[Jersey Fresh]

I demoed these in a 163 and thought they were a blast on slushy wet snow. I didnt want to give them back. THe only thing that kept me from buying them was that I thought they were very unattractive.

 

[beckylh84]

THe only thing that kept me from buying them was that I thought they were very unattractive.

But they ski SO amazing! This is my every day ripper now.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

But they ski SO amazing! This is my every day ripper now.

I know! I just couldn't get past re look bc I love pretty things. So I ended up with sambas. But the great joys were SO SO fun!!!

 

[NZfarmgirl]

That might be because not many of us have demoed the new Aura. Last spring I had a ton of fun on last year's Aura, but because more than one reviewer has loved them, I look forward to demoing on some demo day.

I was on the 2015 Aura back in August here in New Zealand. I liked it a lot - they are very different from the old ones ( which I own) more pivot, very turny, ski shorter. I am torn between these and the Sambas.
I didn't see the Great Joy at all- I skied the super Joy and it was very good so I'd like to try the others in the range but we sometimes get limited choice here in our tiny country. The samba demo I tried was the first time that it has been here. I was the first to ski it

 

[NZfarmgirl]

I know! I just couldn't get past re look bc I love pretty things. So I ended up with sambas. But the great joys were SO SO fun!!!

I like pretty things too but I think I'm getting over it. I think the head graphics are quite sophisticated (although the name 'Joy' isn't)
The new Aura is cool too - quite a bit of black with a hint of femininity, without too much candy floss and Unicorn girly crap.

 

[maggie198]

I hate girly graphics crap. And Barbie doll pink on skis. (It's fine on Barbie, though ). Seriously, we are not all 17.

 

[lisamamot]

Volkl did a good job this year on the Charisma, Kenja, and Aura graphics...now lets see if they can move that to the Yumi! Yes, I own last year's pink and green ones...purchased despite the graphics instead of because of them! Alas, they didn't do any better this year with the magenta and blue Yumi. Oh, well.

I don't mind the simplicity of the Head graphic, but I do think they need to step up their game. That said, my daughter really liked the look of the Total Joy, but I have a thing about white skis...and tan is not my color at all, not in clothes and not on skis. Could I get over it? Judging from a past purchase, absolutely.

 

[maggie198]

I think of ski graphics this way - I finally meet the most perfect man in the world (for me). He's kind, gentle yet strong enough, has a sense of humor, has good energy and rebound, lol. He's crazy about me, we have everything in common, and we get along fabulously! Well, I'm not sooo crazy about his looks, but am I going to let go of a perfect relationship because I wish he had a little more hair (substitute whatever bothers you)? Hell no!