Astral 88

The Nordica Astral 88 and Santa Ana 93 both belong in the All-Mountain East genre by dint of their waist width, but they do not spring from the same soil. The Santa Ana is the slenderest of a family of off-trail skis; the Astral 88 is the fattest member of a clan of what you might call on-trail skis with off-trail benefits. The Astral 88 purloined its snub-nosed shape from the Santa Ana series, giving the Astral 88 off-trail adaptability without disconnecting the shovel from the rest of the ski. The squared-off tail traces back to the on-piste Sentra series, with a focus on sustained edge grip. The same Titanium Hex Bridge that makes the men’s Navigator series one of the best values in skiing powers the Astral 88’s crisp, accurate turns.

Santa Ana 93

The Nordica Santa Ana 93 is an exquisitely balanced ski in several senses. Its overall behavioral profile is split almost exactly between Power and Finesse properties. Last season we tagged it with the Finesse label and this year it barely tipped into Power country, indicating that it’s really neither, but a perfect union of both. Its flex is nicely balanced and its weight is modest considering the Santa Ana 93 contains two 4mm sheets of Titanal around a mostly wood, multi-material core. Perhaps most importantly, the Santa Ana 93 is a terrain agnostic, happy to spend its day on groomers if that’s your pleasure, just as thrilled to toddle off-piste and take on the crud field of your choice.

Navigator 85

If you’re looking for a Frontside style of ski in an all-mountain width, the Navigator 85 is an excellent choice at a more than fair price. Our test crew tended to skip over the Navigator 85, but shop owners did not, stocking more of the Navigator 85 than either of...

Navigator 90

The Navigator 90 presents an interesting alternative to the Enforcer 93. Both meet the standard definition of an All-Mountain East ski, both are ranked as Power skis and both are made by the same team at Nordica. Yet to describe them as dissimilar would be putting...

Experience 94 Ti

When Rossignol elected to make its core Experience line more homogeneous by sharing a common technology, it entailed making the flagship model, formerly the burly Experience 100 HD, more like the step-down second fiddle, the Experience 88 HD. Of all the new...