2025 Men’s All-Mountain West Skis
2025 Men’s All-Mountain West Skis 2025 Men’s All-Mountain West Skis If there is a single, do-it-all ski – particularly for western, big-mountain skiing – it no doubt lives in this category. The reason is simple: up to this girth (95mm-100mm),...Radian 100
Little Liberty first popped up on my radar when they introduced a stellar new technology I hadn’t seen before: instead of using flat sheets of Titanal in the horizontal plane, Liberty inserted a vertical aluminum spine running the length of the ski. The year was 2018, the same year Rossi launched Line Control Technology and Blizzard introduced Carbon Spine, both of which also featured a central, vertical strut. Liberty’s Vertical Metal Technology (VMT) embarrassed the big boys, keeping the 3 V-Series models that used it pinned to the snow. It was a stunning debut.
This year, VMT as we knew it is gone, replaced with Variable Metal Technology in a new, 3-model series, the Radian 92 and 100 for men and a women’s model, the Horizon 92. The new VMT consists of a single, horizontal laminate that is tapered at both ends, so the tip and tail are looser and therefore better suited to irregular, off-trail conditions. (That was one of the problems with Vertical Metal Tech; it was too good at nailing the full length of the ski to the snow surface.)
Liberty calls the niche category to which the Radians and Horizon belong, “Precision-Guided Directional Freeride,” which sounds a bit contrived, but it’s actually a succinct summation of their essential character. These aren’t goofy twin-tips or loosey-goosey barges, but they are meant for Freeride terrain, i.e., anything but groomers. It’s what skiers with refined Frontside skills would prefer to take off-trail. They’re able to translate technical skills into effortless off-road skiing by constructing an off-trail shape and baseline and filling it with on-trail innards.
Jim Schaffner, whose knowledge of the state of the art in ski technology borders on the encyclopedic, calls the Radian 100, “An impressive entry in the 100mm-waist width category. This ski has a very stuck to the snow feel that is confidence-inducing in terms of speed control and resisting the earth’s gravitational pull while turning. Very predictable and at the same time versatile in turn shape and speeds.”
M7 Mantra
The evolution of the Mantra since the launch of the M5 (in the fall of 2017) presents a master class in how to stagger the flow of new design elements across an entire collection. The total line make-over began with two cornerstone design elements, Titanal Frame and...Enforcer 99
The new Nordica Enforcer 99 isn’t up to the standard of last year’s Enforcer 100; it exceeds it.
I hesitate to call it a completely different ski, for it still rewards a strong, technical skier, but there’s a newfound smoothness through every phase of the turn, whether on groomers or in a foot of fresh. I had the idyllic opportunity to catch my first runs on the Enforcer 99 early in the morning on the first day of the Mammoth Trade Fair in early February. The main runs were already riven with tracks, but the Enforcer 99 made the ride feel satin smooth. Crud is a dish best served with speed, which made the Enforcer 99 even more responsive. The longer, shallower tip rocker did a masterful job of clobbering crud with a minimum of deflection, and the more turned-up tail – a design feature borrowed from the Enforcer 104 – let go of each turn like it was releasing a fledgling bird.
Nordica completely rebuilt this ski with a new Double Core design purloined from its technical skis, the powerful Dobermanns and Spitfires. Two sheets of end-to-end Titanal are sandwiched around both a wood core and a Pulse core, made from a shock-sucking elastomer. The is the foundation of the strong edge grip and unruffled ride the Enforcer 99 displays in all conditions.
The second time I forayed out on the Enforcer 99 I wasn’t alone. With me was Jim Schaffner, probably the world’s foremost authority on Alpine ski boots who doesn’t work for a ski supplier, and a top-notch coach. He’s also as strong physically as he is technically, so he’s an excellent ski analyst. He doesn’t hurt that his enthusiasm for the sport is bottomless.
Schaffner’s capsule report on how the Enforcer 99 handled a boot-top snowfall at Palisades Tahoe suggests a ski with a broad performance envelope. “Perfect sweet spot!!! So well balanced in fore/aft position. An excellent execution of an all-mountain tool.”