by Jackson Hogen | Aug 29, 2022
While there are no statistics I can point to substantiate my argument, I would contend that the Enforcer 100 is the most powerful model in the All-Mountain West pantheon. It earns this distinction due to an extra-high camber line that begins to load with stored energy from the moment you stand on it. Nordica alleges that the Enforcer 100 surrenders half of its baseline to rocker: 30% in the front and 20% of the rear running surface are pulled off the snow at one of the most aggressive angles in the genre. Yet despite this inherent loss of snow contact, the Enforcer 100 doesn’t ski “loose,” not at all.
One reason the early vintage Enforcer 100’s were so stout is that, due to molding limitations, all sizes used the same baseline. This was one of the major changes introduced just two years ago: each size of the current Enforcer 100 has a unique baseline, sidecut and core profile. This modification is significant as each size will ski a little differently, so think twice before sizing up.
Because the Enforcer 100 was the first member of the now extensive Enforcer family, until last year it was passed over for product improvements that in the meantime became staples for the rest of the series. The two most significant of these both aimed at weight reduction. True Tip extends the wood core deep into the shovel, reducing the amount of heavy ABS needed to stabilize this area. Adding carbon stringers to its top glass laminate reduced the amount of (heavy) fiberglass required by 35%.
Bear in mind, the Energy 2 Titanium Construction continues to use two end-to-end, wall-to-wall sheets of .4mm Titanal around an all-wood core, along with the glass and carbon, so it’s not like its lost any of its athleticism. This is still a very powerful, very live ski.
The biggest change in on-snow comportment between the ancestral Enforcer and the current copy is in the forgiveness and ease of use departments. Not that the old boy has been gutted – far from it. But the new kid seems to transition to its camber zone more smoothly and while it’s still lively off the edge, it’s easier to decamber in its longer lengths. It’s unusually easy to feather the edge or switch from carving to drifting to match the terrain.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 29, 2022
The Enforcer 110 Free 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 Free two years ago, 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.”
Four winters ago, I was able to saddle up an Enforcer 110 Free in the conditions for which it was made: lots of tracked-up pow on-trail and lush powder lines in the trees. It was a storm day with blustery winds, so if you weren’t in the woods you couldn’t see squat. The situation called for a ski that could absolutely care less about what lay ahead. The Enforcer 110 either rolled over or obliterated whatever dared cross its path. Its ability to plane over uneven surfaces allows it to ride high enough that it’s always easy to throw ‘em sideways to scrub speed or foot-swivel a short-radius turn.
If the crud ever turns confrontational and tries to toss you around, it’s a sign you’re not running them at high enough rpm’s. A 110mm-wide ski with two .4mm sheets of Titanal on board needs wind in its sails to become energized. You have to trust that if you aim it downhill it will reward your faith with rebound energy that will make it ten times easier to steer.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 29, 2022
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 | Aug 29, 2022
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 | Aug 29, 2022
Once a brand has star product, the tendency is to extend this concept in every direction as far as it will go. This is how we end up with a model like the Santa Ana 84, an all-terrain design shrunk down to the dimensions of a Frontside ski. Bear in mind that its five Santa Ana sisters are all broader in the beam than the svelte 84, which suggests that the youngest member of the family may be the runt of litter, with less of whatever made the design popular in the first place.
Ah, but Nordica was prescient enough to realize that a narrow ski will probably spend more of its life on groomers, so it came up with Terrain Specific Metal, a formula that adds more metal as the model’s surface area shrinks. Thus the Santa Ana 84 runs its top metal laminate to within 14mm of the edge, so it will grip the snow surface more tenaciously than its plumper sisters.
