Upon re-examination this past winter, our panelists’ scores and comments regarding the Santa Ana continued to illustrate an instructive point: when a wide-waisted ski has a small meter-radius measurement, which trait will dominate? As we’ve asserted in these pages for several seasons, the sidecut has little chance to demonstrate its capabilities if the ski is so wide it resists the skier’s efforts to elevate either edge.

With enough surface area to float a family of five, the Santa Ana isn’t lacking in buoyancy. Nor is it a bloated blimp that skids sideways to mask its mistress’s mistakes. It’s just wide; wide enough that the only place it feels effortless is in powder. As every Seinfeld character has asserted, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” A ski 100mm underfoot ought to be a powder-only ski for the vast majority of female skiers, and the Santa Ana is more than suitable for any woman, intermediate and above, looking for a board for those glorious powder days when one is anything but bored.