The 2023 Head Pure Joy is an easy-going ski that’s well-suited for beginner and intermediate skiers who are mainly looking to cruise. With a slightly wider-bodied shape than the Absolut Joy, the Pure’s 73-mm waist gives skiers more of a balance point for confidence and fun. Built with a synthetic core, these skis have a lot of value built in, making them a great choice for skiers looking to buy their first pair after renting or leasing in the past. In the 163 cm length, the Pure Joy generates an 11.7-meter turn radius, which is certainly on the short side. If you’re a fan of making a lot of turns on the way down, and not letting gravity get the best of you, the Pure Joy should be on the list for sure. They also have slight tip and tail rocker in order to make the ski smoother and more enjoyable, and while nobody’s going to mistake the Pure Joy for a powder ski, it’s nice to have that slight rise and profile for softer or broken snow.
ROCKER PROFILE
Rocker / Camber
CORE MATERIALS
Graphene
PREFERRED TERRAIN
Groomers, All Mountain
Susan Dorn skied the 158 and noted that it skied true to size. She scored it 5’s out of 5 for overall impression, playfulness, quickness, and maneuverability. Versatility, forgiveness, and stability all got 4’s while flotation, torsional stiffness, and edge hold rounded out her scorecard with 3’s. Susan calls the Pure Joy “FUN! Easy to initiate easy carver quick. Light. Good for energetic intermediate to advanced level. Kind of like an EV car where it has lots of quick acceleration.” Great comparison there, and one we haven’t quite seen so far!
Allsion Kozar skied the 163 and noted it as a “fine” size for her. Allsion was a bit less generous with the scoring, giving the Pure Joy 3’s out of 5 for overall impression, versatility, torsional stiffness, edge hold, stability, and flotation. She gave 2’s for quickness, maneuverability, and forgiveness. Due to the light weight and shorter turn radius, Allison notes that the Pure felt “Less stable than the Super joy, felt a little squirrely and didn’t stay on track.” When you have an aggressive skier like Allison on a composite core ski, that’s more often than not going to be the outcome.
The Pure Joy has its audience for sure. Beginner and intermediate skiers who want something easy, fun, and turny will gravitate to this ski for sure. While not the hot rod that the higher-end skis in the Joy line up may be, the Pure definitely knows and adheres to its limitations, and does so happily.
