No question the Navigator 80 is softer than its burlier kin, but that’s hardly a demerit to the skier who just wants an everyday tool that lets him dine from the all-the-groomers-you-can-eat menu. What’s groomed in the AM is often bumped up by afternoon, when the Navigator 80 can bend its way around bumps with aplomb. While the Navigator 80 is perfectly attuned to the Finesse skier who prefers to ski in an upright stance, it’s ready to tip into big, laid-over arcs whenever duty calls. For its unbeatable ease of operation, accurate steering and category-killing value, the Navigator 80 is a Realskiers Silver Skier Selection.
Start a string of slalom turns and the GT 80 Ti shines brighter with every arc. As it picks up speed the ski becomes more energetic, moving from edge to edge with quiet assurance. The GT 80 Ti is an edge angle agnostic, willing to respond to a skier with an upright stance but ever ready to get down to business if the skier starts to lay it over. Pretty, powerful turns are second nature.
The buzz at Nordica is all about the Enforcer series, off-trail wonders that are reviewed elsewhere in these pages. The clamor over the Enforcers has shifted attention away from what has been a Nordica wheelhouse, its Frontside carvers. That’s a pity, because Nordica continues to make some of the finest carving tools on the hill. The GT 84 Ti’s most lovable trait is how natural it feels, as though it was custom made for you. At a moderate edge angle it produces a moderate, medium-radius turn. The daily activity this rhythm most closely resembles is walking. Right. Left. Right. Left. You get the idea. It feels that simple.
As the fate of the Soul 7 HD W is inextricably linked to that of its unisex twin, the improvements made to one apply equally to the other. For 2018, this means the tip, while remaining rockered and tapered, is now integrated into the main body of the ski and makes contact with the snow closer to the widest point on the ski. The net effect is to improve edging effectiveness on those irksome occasions when hard snow is all there is to ski.
You might expect Line to make cores from hemp stalks and use ayahuasca as a base treatment. But there’s nothing particularly avant-garde about how Line builds its skis. Yes, there are full-length carbon stringers in the new Sick Day 104, always a nice touch, but this hardly qualifies as cutting edge. The wood core is all aspen, a nod to the current obsession with lightness. Wood layered with glass and a dash of carbon is as traditional a recipe as pot roast. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it’s just more mainstream than you may realize given Line’s anti-Establishment posturing.
