Much as I hate to undermine my own methodology, I encourage you to ignore the niggling difference between the Santa Ana 93’s Power and Finesse scores that allowed it to migrate from the Power collective to the Finesse family this season. Its personality didn’t change over the summer, but a couple of new scores shifted it from one side of the Power/Finesse border to the other. The Santa Ana 93 still favors the strong, technical skier who is comfortable carrying speed, but it’s so good at off-trail skills like drifting and staying calm while crud-busting that it can’t help but earn high marks for Finesse properties.
The very fact that the Santa Ana 93 can slip so easily across the Power/Finesse divide tells you that it’s neither one nor the other, but both. One look at its double-rockered baseline reveals why it moves so smoothly from on-trail to off: the blunt tip bends abruptly upward, doing the job of riding over irregular terrain quickly so most of the ski can be fully cambered. It’s as if a high-powered Frontside ski were hiding inside a loose-tipped powder vehicle.
The Santa Ana 93 gets its strength from two sheets of .4mm Titanal with a poplar/beech/balsa/foam core between them and sheets of carbon prepreg above and below. The core and carbon elements are so light the addition of Ti laminates doesn’t dull its reflexes but does give it the substance to hold on ice and cremate crud.
“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.
The Santa Ana 93 is probably more ski than most intermediates need, but the ambitious skier who wants to expand her horizons would do well to consider it. For its wide performance range and confidence-inspiring control, we again award the Santa Ana 93 a Silver Skier Selection.
