by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The Line Pandora 104 is a paean to the merits of simplicity when it comes to making wide skis for women. An all-aspen core and fiberglass laminates reinforced with carbon stringers – with the memorable moniker Carbon Magic Fingers – in a cap construction with a dash of square sidewall underfoot is nearly all you need to know about its composition and construction. A striated topskin designed to shed snow is a nice touch that helps keep the Pandora 104 light by ditching any pow that tries to hitch a ride.
Becca Pierce from Bobo’s raved about the Pandora’s winning personality after sending it through piles of soupy spring snow. “Absolutely perfect for these slushy spring conditions!”
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
Members get so much more content! Please sign-up today and experience all the Realskiers.com has to...
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
Members get so much more content! Please sign-up today and experience all the Realskiers.com has to...
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The defining feature of the Sheeva 10 is also its most obvious, a top layer of Titanal that runs virtually edge to edge underfoot and tapers to a central tongue that terminates halfway up the forebody and down towards the tail. The partial laminate of metal simultaneously serves two purposes: it magnifies torsional strength where it’s widest while allowing the rest of the ski to go with the flow. The tapered tip isn’t itching to dip into a turn and the tail isn’t the clinging type. This freedom to deflect helps the Sheeva 10 to drift over ratty terrain as if it were level.
The Sheeva 10’s ability to deliver the stability of a metal ski and the playfulness and ease of glass and carbon in a single package is recreated in a larger format, the Sheeva 11 (140/112/130). While in the Big Mountain world greater girth is sometime associated with greater ease, the metal underfoot in the Sheeva 11 “makes it ski way wider than a 112,” says Lauren Takayesu of Footloose, “but still easy to negotiate for the lady ripper.”
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The Enforcer 110 is so good at motoring through crud that it jumped to the top position among Big Mountain models in its debut season. Its reign would have certainly continued had Nordica not fashioned an Enforcer 104 this year, which usurped the throne so briefly held by the model from which it was cloned.
Just because the narrower and lighter Enforcer 104 Free feels more maneuverable than its stouter big bro doesn’t mean the Enforcer 110 Free suddenly morphed into a lugubrious tanker. It’s still remarkably agile for its girth and its camber pocket delivers a lively turn finish that makes it ski lighter than it actually weighs. “This is the most versatile wide profile ski I have ever used!” gushed Boot Doctor Bob Gleason. “An uncanny blend of big ski float and directional fortitude, with a quickness and rebound that will have you tap dancing in the tight spots.”
