2nd Look: HEAD Kore 117

Groomers

There are some incredibly fun, rolling groomers below the playful terrain off of the Northwest Express chair, and also on a few other lower pitches of Mt Bachelor. It was some of the most fun groomer skiing I’ve done this year, and the Kore 117 proved to be a competent platform for angulated, two-foot carving. The tips engaged easily and predictably, the tails were adequately strong for finishing a turn, and the camber and flex provided nice rebound between turns. The Kore 117 didn’t have the same damp feel as the Enforcer Pro, but the shovels of the 117 are a bit stiffer than the Enforcer Pro and didn’t fold up as much in a high-energy carves when hitting bumpy sections of snow.

Having said that, the relatively stiff flex of the Kore 117 doesn’t bend around the boot into shorter turns as well as the Enforcer Pro. While some will prefer the stiffer shovels and overall flex of the skis like the Kore 117 on groomers, I typically enjoy a ski with the dampness of a few layers of metal, and a flex pattern and shape that I can force into a shorter-radius arc for some fun energetic carves.

Mount Point

All of my heli skiing and much of my inbounds skiing on the Kore 117 was done with the bindings set at the recommended boot center mark. They worked well for me there, and despite the -11.6 cm mount point, were sufficiently quick and easy to turn. As stated above, the 117 demonstrates some of the best float I’ve had in the tips from a ski of this width.

But after talking with Jonathan and learning that he had been skiing them at +1, I gave that a try as well. The slightly more forward mount did make the ski feel a little more balanced off edge and made firm-snow turn initiation a little bit easier. I doubt that +1 cm will significantly change the powder performance of the Kore 117, and it may actually make the ski feel slightly looser and surfier. I’ll have to wait until my next powder day to confirm that, but for now, Jonathan and I would both recommend +1 cm of the line.

Weight to Performance Ratio

I can’t think of another ski that performs as well in mixed conditions relative to its weight except for the DPS Lotus 124 Alchemist, which is considerably wider and weighs about 150 g more than the Kore 117. As we have reiterated many times at Blister, increased mass almost always equals improved performance in mixed and firm snow, and lightweight skis often suffer markedly in those conditions. The Kore 117 is another solid exception to this rule and shouldn’t be dismissed by those who have previously had negative experiences with lightweight skis.

Bottom Line

The Head Kore 117 is an excellent all-around ski in this width class that does well in firm and soft snow, including deep untracked powder. It has a relatively traditional shape which gives it increased versatility in firm conditions, but still has excellent flotation in powder.

Perhaps most remarkable is that, at about 2000 grams in a 189 cm length, it is one of the lightest skis in it’s class and could easily be used with full alpine bindings or a good tech binding for powder-oriented touring.

Deep Dive Comparisons: HEAD Kore 117

Become a Blister member or a Deep Dive subscriber to get our further thoughts and comparisons of the HEAD Kore 117 vs. the Rossignol Super 7 RD, Rossignol Super 7 HD, Moment Governor, Moment Bibby / Blister Pro, Salomon QST 118, Kitten Factory Chairman, and DPS Wailer 112 RPC 2.0, and more.

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