2008 Head Monster iM 82 Ski

I've skied on about 50 skis in the last several years, and these are the best all-around, IMO.  Damp, medium flex, good edge grip.  Stiffer than I like in light powder, but excellent in crud and all other conditions.  I can ski faster with these.

An often overlooked ski. Quicker than an Monster 88 with superb stability in all conditions. Medium radius turns are easy. Great crud-busting. Easy to carve. Very quick feeling midfat. Requires skill and is not really a deep powder ski.

Got the Monster 82's in 177cm off Back Country recently. Been skiing them for a month now. I also have the 09 78 Monsters both with Mojo12 bindings. Me--5' 10" 150lbs 66 yrs old. Still aggressive, fast skier. Play all over the mountain. The 82's let me do anything I want except deep pow. They make other skis for that if you're a powder hound. These handle about 1 1/2 feet just fine. The 78's are a fun, play ski but a little squirrely compared to the Monster 82's. I find myself throwing the 82's in the car more and more. A super stable, lively ski some say are demanding ski but as long as your not napping they deliver and your don't HAVE to be constantly on them. They give you a little slack. With spring conditions we're having in Tahoe right now these skis rule. They just rip and hold a solid edge in the morning and when the snow softens up they ride like a bullet train. Set it and forget it. Big huge, high speed carvers that blow thru piles of corn. These skis do it all. Too bad Head decided to de-tune the 2010 line. These Monsters will go down in history.

 I've taken these up in the good and bad conditions that the NW has to offer. When I first took them up it was icy and tons of crud. This ski just blasted through all of it, I never felt like it couldn't take anything I threw at it, I went into a full tuck straight down a few long runs, never chattered, and thats the fastest I've went on a ski. Granted I'm no racer.

Second day was piste with a couple inches of fresh powder. This had enough float on that to ski right through everything. I took it off of a few kickers and it never let me down.

Third day: Powder powder powder. Let me say this now, this ski is not meant for back country type of deep powder, however exploring the trees with patches of deep pow, this performed much better than I'd hoped. I had no trouble making quick turns through the trees in the powder. Then I took it up to the Double Black Moguls, can't say I have had a better time than with this ski in them.

Last ski day of the year: Wet snow after a small rain. Not much to say except that this ski rules off and on piste. If you are wanting to go powder skiing don't get this is the only bad thing I can think of about this ski.