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.
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.
The abrupt curvature of the tip rocker on the Enforcer 93 creates the impression of a ski dedicated to off-trail forays into untamed snow conditions, but it’s the pronounced camber behind the shovel that gives this ski its power and grip wherever you send it. Because of its elongated camber zone the Enforcer 93 feels like at home on hard snow, yet its sharply rockered tip and early rise tail are meant to smooth over the irregularities of ungroomed snow. While double-rockered baselines are commonplace in the All-Mountain East genre, Nordica’s particular formula finds just the right balance between on-trail and off-trail requirements.
