Head Skis USA Venturi 95 Review

Performance Comparison

At first glance, the Venturi 95s may turn off some skiers looking for a traditional all-mountain ski. The rocker looks extreme, they're a true twin tip, and the top sheet design is, well, unique. But as your parents always told you, never judge a book by its cover. Head has taken all the “fun” aspects of more playful skis and successfully blended them with what you might expect out of something more traditional and hard charging.

Stability at Speed

One would not expect a ski with this much tip and tail rocker to be so stable at high speed, but we gave it a solid 7 out of 10 in this category. Head has infused the Venturi with their TTS (Tip and Tail Stabilizer) technology, which basically consists of rubber inserts to dampen the vibration typically found in rockered skis, as well as glass fiber exterior that increases the stiffness.

We felt comfortable Maching down groomers and even off piste on the Venturi. A ski with similar flex and playfulness, the Salomon QST 99, did not hold up as well. The tips stayed calm and true in a majority of the rigorous conditions we tested them in. The minimal chatter felt was comparable to that found in the K2 iKonic 84 ti, and led to much-surprised chatter amongst those lucky enough to test these skis.

Carving Performance

Once again, looks can be deceiving. This ski looks like it was designed for the powder, but take a little closer look and you'll see what Head was up to when they designed the Venturi with only a 95mm waist. While it is not on par with our top performing carver, the Nordica Enforcer 93, this ski still shreds!

The overall design of the ski does lend itself to more slashing and slarving turns (perhaps even while skiing switch?!) like the Salomon QST 99. The Venturi 95 was only outmatched by the Nordica Enforcer 93 in this category. The narrow waist allows for it to be incredibly quick edge to edge and the rigidity form their “TTS” tech provides great edge hold through the turn.

Crud

Even though this was the Venturi's lowest scoring category (6 out of 10), that doesn't mean it can't handle some crud. Similarly soft and playful skis, ie Salomon QST 99, experience the same problems. Thanks to its large tip measuring in at a whopping 140mm (for comparison, the Dynastar Cham 97 2.0's large shovel is only 133mm), it was able to bust through chopped up pow and push around sun affected snow with ease. Our testers ran into some trouble in conditions that weren't buttery soft and experienced some chatter in firm snow.

Powder

This ski looks like it was built for powder days, and in part, it was. Measuring in at 140mm in the tip and 126 in the tail, both complete with ample rocker, it definitely lends itself to soft days, like the Salomon QST 99. Those features allow the ski to float whether Mother Nature delivered two or twelve inches overnight.

It was only outmatched by the Dynastar Cham 97 2.0 The Venturi's lightweight design and playfulness will have you searching the mountain on pow days for drops, pillows, and your favorite secret stash to slash.

Playfulness

If we had to choose just one word to describe this all mountain ski, it would definitely be “playful.” It outperformed all other skis in this category with a hard to obtain 8 out of 10. The only ski that came close to having a comparable amount of playfulness was the Salomon QST 99, and when comparing them side by side, you can see why.

Head was able to keep this ski light, by not adding any metal laminates and snappy by incorporating their sandwich cap construction. One of our testers, who was originally a snowboarder (don't fault him for that) actually preferred this ski above all the others (even the award winning Volkl Mantra), because of its ability to pop off every side hit, bounce around the mountain, and provide cushy soft landings.

Bumps

While not a mogul-specific ski, the Venturi 95 holds its own in the bumps. With help from the rockered profile and low swing weight, our testers found this ski to be easy to navigate in the bumps, like the Volkl Mantras.

You may not zipper down 1,500ft of bumps like you might on the Dynastar Cham 97 2.0, but we guarantee you'll find some pleasure bashing bumps with these skis.

Best Application

The Venturi 95 is best suited for the adventurous skier who spends the whole day searching for natural terrain features to huck themselves off of, but still loves to rip groomers on the way back to the chair. This is a great all mountain ski, especially for those who seek something a little more lively.

Value

The $600 price tag of the Venturi 95 is right in the middle of the price spectrum of our all mountain skis we reviewed. We believe it is a fair price for a great ski that can do just about anything.

Conclusion

Although this ski did not win the “Editors' Choice” award, that does not mean it should be overlooked. In the right hands, some might find this ski even more enjoyable than our higher rated/award winning skis. It performs well in all categories, as you would expect a great all-mountain ski to do, but excels in the general “fun” category and is more forgiving than some of our other highly acclaimed skis (see Volkl Mantra).