by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
When ski makers start from scratch to make a women’s ski, the usual target isn’t the most talented lass, but those less likely to succeed without a little help. All the features that make the Wild Belle DC 84 adapted for women are attuned in particular to ladies who are still ascending the learning curve. It’s cushioned Double Core, two-tiered binding platform and soft, round flex all work to promote better balance and reduced effort on the part of someone still learning the ropes.
The “DC” in the Wild Belle DC 84 stands for Double Core, its tip-to-tail damping technology that inserts a rubber mat between the upper and lower poplar and beech cores. The core makes a ski that’s supple and damp, with a sidecut that promotes early turn entry and a gentle release. Its whole shtick is making a smooth, carved turn on groomed slopes while the pilot operates from a comfortable stance.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
The Nordica Enforcer 104 Free and Enforcer 110 Free are both first-class Big Mountain Finesse skis – they’ve each recently held top billing in the genre – but they earn their high ratings for ease of use in different ways. The Enforcer 110 Free is inherently better at drifting and flotation, simply by dint of its superior surface area. These are critical properties for a Big Mountain ski, but they aren’t the only admirable attributes. The Enforcer 104 Free out-finesses its bigger bro with easy-steering agility, able to hew to a tighter radius whether on edge or off.
The Enforcer 104 Free even feels quicker than the narrower 185cm Enforcer 100, because you don’t detect its extra 4mm of width as much as you notice its lively response to lighter pressure. It seems to hover like a water bug over wind-battered crud, floating just above the havoc underfoot where it’s still able to move freely side to side. It smooths out the ruffles in the most ravaged terrain, turning a ratty collage of ruts into a dance floor.
Back-to-back runs on the 110 and 104 in 10 inches of partially tracked powder confirmed what one might suspect a priori – that the narrower ski was noticeably easier to steer no matter how you slice it. Whether pivoting your feet to make a short turn shorter or banking off a wind drift, the Enforcer 104 took less force to guide. To the obvious question – is a 104-waist width really necessary in a line that already has cornerstone models on its flanks in the original Enforcer 100 and the 110? – we have an equally obvious answer: oh, yes.
There are times when just a small change in geometry lands on a magic combination of shape and energy that amplifies the best qualities in a particular design. The arrival of the Enforcer 104 Free marks just such an occasion. The newest kid on the block already feels, not merely like a member of the band, but its front man.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
The first edition of the Santa Ana 110 swapped the Enforcer 110’s poplar/beech core for balsa, but otherwise faithfully replicated its unisex structure, including two full sheets of .4mm Titanal. That’s a lot of ski, too much for most women hoping to make powder skiing easier, not more demanding. Two years ago, Nordica found the solution, Terrain Specific Metal: the wider the ski, the more metal is cut out of its mid-section. The widest models, the Santa Ana Free 110 and Free 104, went from charging like barges to pivoting like catamarans.
Taking some of the Titanal out of the Santa Ana Free 110 certainly helped its maneuverability, but it still favored the expert who knows how to get after it. This season, Nordica gave up trying to lure lasses onto its fattest offering, putting the Santa Ana Free 110 out to pasture and installing the Santa Ana 104 Free as its flagship freeride ski.
With its slightly lower price and thinner waistline, the Santa Ana Free 104 may seem like a step down from its big sister, but if anything, she may be a better match for most women, a classic case of less-is-more.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
Three years ago, Nordica’s 5-model Santa Ana collection was finally unified under a single design concept, Terrain Specific Metal, that closes the gap between the top edge and a single, sculpted, Titanal topsheet as the waist width shrinks. On theSanta Ana 93, TSM moves the metal fairly close to the edge, to improve edging power on the groomed conditions it’s fated to experience.
“Being light and fairly flexible makes them fun all around,” notes Stacy Kellner from Squaw Valley Ski School, who felt the Santa Ana 93 handled better on-trail. “They’re a bit beefier ski that carves great and is easy to get on edge. Groomers were lots of fun,” she notes. Becca Pierce from Bobo’s encountered the Santa Ana 93 on a spring day when the snow evolved into porridge off-trail. “A great ski for these sloppy, slushy, sticky conditions,” she says, evidence that it’s meant for more than mere groomers. Jolee from Footloose agrees with Becca, citing the Santa Ana 93 as “Great for a one-ski quiver. It can charge on hard pack and off-piste. Doesn’t have a speed limit,” she adds admiringly.
by Jackson Hogen | Sep 1, 2023
One of the reasons the Women’s All-Mountain East category is so popular is that it represents the first step away from prepared slopes, the featureless terrain to which the uninitiated are tethered. Perhaps it’s the peculiar nature of the frontier-America mentality, but in the U.S., where no one likes to be told what they can and cannot do, the off-piste represents freedom, escapism and breaking the bonds of convention and formality.
Sorry for the rhetorical flourishes, but for some reason Americans can’t wait to go off-trail, ready or not, so they might as well be ready. This is where the Nordica Santa Ana 88 can be of greatest service to humankind. While an expert can ski it and appreciate its merits, experts have a lot of other choices, while those who need the most help adapting to the strangeness of skiing off-trail do not.
The Santa Ana 88 will also work wonders for one of the sport’s fastest-growing niches, the in-resort/backcountry ski that will work with a hybrid Alpine/AT binding to create the ultimate all-terrain set-up.
You have to give up something to get something in this world, and the Santa Ana 88 gives up some edging energy in order to improve its tolerance for off-trail incompetence. As a set of training wheels that will continue to serve long after the training is over, the Santa Ana 88 offers the intermediate a lot of ceiling to grow into. While an expert can ski it and appreciate its merits, experts have a lot of other choices, while those who need the most help adapting to the strangeness of skiing off-trail do not.
