 Poster: A snowHead
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I've just had a solid 2 weeks skiing on Head I.Monster 72s out in Canada, so thought I'd compile a little review.
Firstly, a little background to put the review in context. I'm an experienced "punter" skier (level 8 or 9?) in my late 30s, skiing regularly since I was in my early teens. I like to mix it up both on and off piste, with something like a 60/40 split. I'm comfortable on pretty much any marked piste, including most double blacks, but I usually prefer high speed cruising and messing around in any slopeside powder and trees on offer. I'm not into serious back country off-piste. If I have to trek there, it's not for me 
So now on to the Head IM 72s. I'm 6' 1" and weigh 89 kg so I opted for 177 length, which turned out to be perfect. They came with the adjustable Tyrolia Railflex bindings, which I ran the whole time in the +15 mm forward position. I intended to experiment with fore-aft binding position, but it seemed perfect in the forward postition so I just left it alone in the end and got on with the skiing.
On piste:
A joy to use pretty much everywhere, on both soft and hard pistes. The snow was fresh and I didn't encounter any significant ice, so can't really comment on ultimate edge hold in difficult conditions. Carving turns of all sizes on fresh snow was awesome. Just roll them on edge and watch them go, totally effortless. Cranking the speed right up didn't seem to phase them either. No flapping or chattering, just smooth stable performance. Much better in this respect than previous mid-fats I've tried eg Salomon Scrambler Hot. Finally, not bad at all through the bumps, which is a bonus for this type of ski.
Off piste:
I was lucky enough to get several good snow dumps over the 2 weeks, so there was plenty of easily accessible powder around. The first small dump left around 10-15 cm sitting on top of the pistes, so no real floatation issues. The IM72s were very much at home in these conditions, effortlessly gliding along. Diving off into the slightly deeper snow between the trees also gave no problems. However, a further big snow fall later in the week created knee deep powder and this was the only time I started thinking it would be nice to have a little more width underfoot. The 72s (actually 73 mm wide in 177 length) were up to the job, but I had to keep my speed up to keep afloat in places. I'm a fairly big guy so I expected this.
Trivia:
Mine are the red/orange ones from last season (discounted stock). The only difference with the 2006/7 version is the addition of a "liquidmetal" logo and a colour change to blue/orange. I thought they looked hideous in website photos, but in real life they actually look pretty cool. The finish is excellent, as you'd expect from Head, with generous edge thickness and clean bases. Factory edge angles were 0.5 base and 1.0 side, so I just left them at that. Many thanks to Spyderjon for his help with waxing and edge tuning. He also let me have a go on his Campbell balancer, which is how I came to start off with +15 mm forward on the binding position.
Conclusion:
Simply awesome ski for pretty much everything except bottomless powder at one end of the spectrum and competitive racing at the other. Everything in between is well covered. I bought the IM72s to use as a 1 ski quiver and I think in this respect they have proven to be very successful. It would be very interesting to try the IM82 to see how much they gain and lose off/on piste. But I think on the whole I was probably on the right ski for 95% of my skiing time and they weren't a bad choice for the other 5%! Anyone looking for an all-rounder should put these on their shortlist.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd expect the edge hold to wash out on European hardpack somewhat, which is where Stocklis and Volkls come into their own.
Thats based on trying an M75 a few seasons ago, otherwise everything else sounds about right.
If the 82 is as good as they say it is, I'd expect it to need a bit more work to get it on edge but once there, a better all rounder. Its the same for the Recon and the Outlaw...what you lose, going fatter, you easily get back all over the hill. Although quick-ish, none of these are going to turn that quick, they are all around 17-18-19 mtr radius, I think.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| JT wrote: |
I'd expect the edge hold to wash out on European hardpack somewhat, which is where Stocklis and Volkls come into their own.
Thats based on trying an M75 a few seasons ago, otherwise everything else sounds about right.
If the 82 is as good as they say it is, I'd expect it to need a bit more work to get it on edge but once there, a better all rounder. Its the same for the Recon and the Outlaw...what you lose, going fatter, you easily get back all over the hill. Although quick-ish, none of these are going to turn that quick, they are all around 17-18-19 mtr radius, I think. |
Good points. In a straight choice I may have opted for the IM82, but I got a great deal on the IM72 which swung it the other way. In retrospect though the IM72 probably suits my personal on/off piste skiing split better.
I agree with your comments about European hardpack, something like a Volkl AC3 or 4 should do better there. But I go to Canada to get well away from Euro hardpack 
Turn radius on the IM72 is only 15.3 m compared to 17.7 m for the IM82. So I'd expect the IM72 to be significantly quicker.
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uktrailmonster,
Seems like the thought progress will work out well. As I spend vitually all my time in the Alpes, things like beefyness of the ski and the ability to crush cruddy snow weigh more than moguls, for example. Just another nail in the one ski quiver coffin. You still have to pick the compromises, IMV but they aren't as drastic as they used to be.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Yep, life's one huge big compromise If I was skiing more in Europe, I'd probably have gone for the Volkl AC3, but I'm sure the IM72s would do a pretty competent job too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We have the iM72s and find they hold better on European hardpack and ice than many much thinner skis. They actually handled the LDA ice in Nov remarkably well. Would concur with teh OP's review
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