When Nordica was first finding its footing as a ski brand, it struggled to find a toe hold until it earned a following for its Fire Arrow carving skis. Over the course of the last decade, the runaway success of Nordica’s Enforcer and Santa Ana series has stolen the spotlight, relegating Nordica’s superb Dobermann Spitfire series to relative obscurity. For the 23/24 season, Nordica adapted the Dual Core design – first debuted in the women’s skills-improvement model, the Wild Belle DC 84 – to a new suite of Spitfires and a spin-off series that hits lower price points, dubbed Steadfast.
In a market that treats high-octane carving skis like pariahs, shoehorning a Spitfire DC 74 Pro into an American retailer’s ski rack is a daunting challenge, but a ski that demonstrates a similar passion for carved turns on a chassis roughly 11mm wider everywhere hits a sweet spot in the U.S. market. Its carving-centric sidecut is ideally suited to groomers, but it has the requisite surface area to handle boot-top powder and side-of-the-trail chop. At only $800, with a more than adequate binding included in the price, the Steadfast 85 DC FTD meets the needs and expectations of a broad cross-section of skiers. It’s an ideal “step-up” ski for someone making the move from rental, relic or hand-me-down to ownership.
The Steadfast 85 DC manages to combine an easy-flexing camber line with a torsionally rigid lay-up that holds its line on hard snow. Its behavior is driven by a Double Core design that splits the wood core in half and inserts a Titanal laminate and a shock-damping polymer dubbed Pulse Core in the middle. As applied to the deep sidecut (51mm drop between tip and waist) and high taper angle (21mm drop from tip to tail) of the Steadfast 85, the Double Core design delivers a carving machine with a velvety flow from turn to turn.
The Steadfast 85’s ability to generate an infinite supply of short- to medium-radius turns left Peter Glenn’s Mark Rafferty gleefully gasping for air. “ I think I need to get in better shape if I’m going to ski the Steadfast 85,” Rafferty concluded after his initial test run. “Not cuz it’s tough to ski,” he explains. “Oh no, it makes every turn with ease. Slow, easy, run-out turns. And ripping, aggressive, high-g carves. Which brings me back to the fitness thing. I felt like a Reno pylon racer in those turns. I had screamingly powerful turns. Turn after turn. And grinning like a goof. And leaving nothing behind on that run. Whew! I’m panting, thinking, I gotta do that again. I’m glad I can catch my breath on the chair. Yes, it’s that fun,” he breathlessly concludes.
As Rafferty’s testimony alleges, the carvaholic shape of the Steadfast 85’s forebody has never met a turn it didn’t like, while its high taper angle prompts the tail to release whenever the pilot elects to lower the edge angle. The Steadfast 85 is the rare All-Mountain East model that’s derived from carving DNA, elevating its hard-snow performance above the norm in this most competitive of categories.
If you’re an elite expert who knows how to drive a powerful carving tool, the Steadfast 85 may not have enough horsepower for you. But for the majority of recreational skiers who want a versatile ski that’s geared for the type of terrain they usually enjoy, the Steadfast 85 is spot-on, and it will sell for roughly $200 less than most, if not all, top-of-the-line carvers. For bringing an extra measure of ease to a ski with a broad performance range, we again confer upon the Steadfast 85 DC FDT a Silver Skier Selection.