Tip width is the measurement of your ski at its widest point near the front, usually ranging from about 90mm to 155mm. It's one part of the ski's sidecut—the hourglass shape that also includes the waist and tail widths. On its own, tip width tells you a bit about how the ski will behave, but it really matters most when you look at it alongside the waist width.
Wider tips excel in soft snow because they push more snow and help keep the ski from diving, giving you better flotation. They also make turn initiation feel easier since there's more surface area to engage early in the turn. Narrower tips, on the other hand, feel more precise and are less likely to catch or feel hooky in firm or variable conditions.
The key is not to fixate on tip width alone. The difference between the tip and waist (called the taper) shapes how the ski enters a turn, and the rocker profile plays a big role in soft-snow performance too. A wide tip with early rocker will float far better than a wide tip with full camber.