There are plenty of choices in the market for skiers who want a shorter camber zone, something easier to swivel, maybe a little fatter so it will float better. The MX84 is the antidote to all that. Its absurdly high Finesse score isn’t because it’s easy for anyone to ski; it’s because the experts who tested it fell in love with its line-hugging power and imperturbable calm. This is why testers who rarely write comments start decorating their test cards with hearts.
Meet Ms. Mid, aka the K2 Luv Sick 80ti. Her waist width is in the middle of the Frontside bell curve. Her tapered tip and tail and all-terrain rocker gently disengage her extremities so she can concentrate her efforts on the middle. While her sidecut is capable of making a tight radius arc, she’d rather ride at a lower edge angle and peel off medium-radius turns to keep her speed – you guessed it – moderate.
If you take a close look at the scores for the Power Instinct Ti Pro for all ten criteria (available on our members’ site), you’ll see above average scores for every criterion and a brilliant result for stability at speed, a benchmark of excellence. There’s only one area where it gets beaten up, literally and figuratively: off-piste performance. Little wonder. The Power Instinct Ti Pro is totally dialed for on-trail heroics: a system ski, it comes with a fairly high plate, the binding bumps up the ramp angle and it has a well-scalloped sidecut. These features contribute to uncanny control on groomed runs – the Power Instinct can hold an edge at speed alongside the best in the genre – but it’s as manageable as a moody cat in knee-deep crud.
No question the Navigator 80 is softer than its burlier kin, but that’s hardly a demerit to the skier who just wants an everyday tool that lets him dine from the all-the-groomers-you-can-eat menu. What’s groomed in the AM is often bumped up by afternoon, when the Navigator 80 can bend its way around bumps with aplomb. While the Navigator 80 is perfectly attuned to the Finesse skier who prefers to ski in an upright stance, it’s ready to tip into big, laid-over arcs whenever duty calls. For its unbeatable ease of operation, accurate steering and category-killing value, the Navigator 80 is a Realskiers Silver Skier Selection.
The buzz at Nordica is all about the Enforcer series, off-trail wonders that are reviewed elsewhere in these pages. The clamor over the Enforcers has shifted attention away from what has been a Nordica wheelhouse, its Frontside carvers. That’s a pity, because Nordica continues to make some of the finest carving tools on the hill. The GT 84 Ti’s most lovable trait is how natural it feels, as though it was custom made for you. At a moderate edge angle it produces a moderate, medium-radius turn. The daily activity this rhythm most closely resembles is walking. Right. Left. Right. Left. You get the idea. It feels that simple.