HEAD REV 105 Review

The HEAD REV 105 (on sale now for 50% off! Only $349) can be a lot of different skis to a lot of different people - it's that versatile. The playful soft-snow seeker at western ski areas could call it a quiver-of-one all mountain ski. Others might consider it a big mountain ski that comes out for the days after a storm. For lighter or smaller skiers, it makes for a great powder ski too.

Or, if you're Julia Mancuso, you could do this:

Julia Mancuso on the HEAD REV 105 from a GoPro

The HEAD 105 achieves this flexibility with a fairly unique shape and the high quality construction HEAD is known for in the race ski world. It's quick to turn with a shorter-than-average turn radius in this category (16 meters), aided in quick turn initiation by a medium dose of slow-rise, gradual rocker in the tip. The rocker naturally helps out in the soft snow too, combined with an-overall wide nose (144 mm) that wants to stay at the surface in powder.

Unlike past HEAD big mountain skis that were very stiff, this ski doesn't have metal for a lighter, softer feel. It's nimble in soft snow, but camber underfoot means it's actually really stable on the groomers too.

Sierra Jim tested these in-depth, here's what he had to say:
"The 105 is the widest of the Head Rev series and is targeted for the primarily western skier with a significant appetite for off trail use. Like the other skis in the Rev series, one of the hallmarks of the 105 is its very wide tip. In fact, the tip of the 105 is as wide as many skis that are as much as a cm wider in the waist and the sidecut also has the tightest turn radius of this width class. These factors and the relatively light weight make the Rev 105 possibly the most nimble feeling ski in this width range. I don’t usually ski wider skis at the Winter Park intro but Head was a potential new brand for us at the time so I did give the 105 a spin while we were there.

Naturally, the 105 was not nearly as quick as the 75-90mm skis that I had mostly been testing. However, I ski wider skis most of the time and so the Rev was not too hard to adapt to. The first thing that I noticed was that despite the width, the 105 felt comfortable rolling into the turn although it took more of an angle to get it to hook up than all those narrower skis did. Despite the tight turn radius, the time it took to get from one edge to the other made this ski feel better in bigger turns than smaller ones. The 105 has a light feel (no metal in the layup) but the dampening fibers give it a smooth and stable feel at most speeds. While not ideally suited for hard chalky snow, the Rev was really quite comfortable and much better than the wider, more rockered skis in those conditions.

Later in the year, I had the opportunity to test the Rev 105 in a mix of conditions and one day in particular stands out. I happened to have a shot at a number of skis in this width on a day following one of our rare February storms. The conditions varied from soft groomers up to 15” deep. On this day, the Rev 105 was one of the standouts. In deeper snow, the 105 floated like a wider ski, yet it also was quick and nimble feeling when the snow got skied out and started forming up into soft bumps. Out on what passed for groomers this day, Rev was more stable than some of the stiffer skis and in fact, it’s stability and predictability were a surprise for a ski with a medium flex and no metal in the build. There is no doubt that the Rev 105 favors soft snow over hard and also that it can be overpowered by a heavy skier that skis exceptionally fast. On the other hand, for the skier with a preference for nimbleness over straightline capabilites the Rev 105 is a superb choice for most western soft snow conditions."

Philpug characterized the HEAD REV 105 as one of the most playful skis in its width category over on Epicski.com:
"If you love the Blizzard Cochise or Volkl Katana type skis, this is not for you. But if you don't like the minimum speed needed to drive those skis, try the REV. This ski is a great, playful big mountain ski for those who don't want a hard charging ski, but don't want a big floppy clown-shoe tip either. I think HEAD will do very well with this one - a lot of people are going to enjoy it."

One Ski Magazine Tester said the HEAD REV 105 could make any skier better:
"The 105 initiated turns with ease, and the rockered tip tracked effortlessly through chop. Though hard-charging testers found it a tad underpowered, it earned high marks for forgiveness, and enjoyed the cruisey, medium-size turns on hardpack, the kind of turns you can make all day."

Over at Freeskier, testers said:
"This thing knifes like Wolfgang Puck," and "It gives me confidence when it matters."