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 Nordica Santa Ana 100 is easily the most torsionally rigid of our four Recommended women’s All-Mountain West models, usually an indicator of a higher Power quotient, yet it’s so easy to ski – for advanced to expert women – that its scores landed it on the Finesse side of the ledger. But as I occasionally stress in these pages, while the numbers are instructive, they don’t reveal as much about a ski’s character as the narrative. Listen closely to what a couple of our testers had to say about the Santa Ana 100 and you’ll hear suggestions that both these ladies thought the ski is, if anything, too powerful.
“Great all around ski,” is the general assessment of Jolee from Footloose, with this proviso: ”A little too much ski for hard pack, but for a woman who charges it’s terrific. Handles great off groomed snow,” she adds. Becca Pierce from Bobo’s test team skied the Santa Ana 100 in rapidly softening spring conditions, which Becca found it ideally adapted for. “These skis were meant for today’s conditions. A tad long for yours truly in the bumps, but assuming I were a stronger skier, I’d bet they’d be tits. Would be great in pow, and awesome control in this slop. Loved the stability.”
What does it take for a small brand to stand out in market awash with small-batch producers? It certainly helps to have distinctive new technology that not only works as advertised but exceeds performance expectations. By converting what are normally horizontal strips of Titanal into vertical alu struts, Liberty created a shock-damping system that constantly seeks snow contact while retaining the subtle snow feel that Ti tends to muffle. The result is remarkably consistent performance in all snow conditions. Given its wide range of application, it would be a shame to shackle the evolv90 to groomers. Not that it can’t handle corduroy; it’s nearly full cambered, with only a smidgeon of early rise in the tip, so connection on hardpack is a given.
But groomers are only one note in the melody the evolv90 has memorized. It’s specialty is having no specialty. Crud is a kick, pow is a blast (duh), it has energy off the edge on hard snow and maintains clean connection with anything soft.
When Nordica was finding its feet as a ski brand, it earned its first critical acclaim and commercial foothold with its collection of carving skis. In the current market, the runaway success of Nordica’s Enforcer series has pushed its Frontside Spitfire models into the shadows, an unfortunate byproduct of Nordica’s ascendance into the first rank of ski makers. No one ski can change skiers’ infatuation with wide, off-trail models, but the Dobermann Spitfire 80 RB would gladly volunteer for the job. Powerful and playful in nearly equal measures, it’s such a confidence-inspiring platform that you’ll want to take it with you everywhere you go.
“Easy turning and forgiving,” notes Bobo’s Theron Lee. “Very user friendly, drifts well but holds an edge at higher edge angles. Feels like a western Frontside ski, able to handle soft snow as well as hard. Good energy feedback but not overly damp. Better at speed, low response at slower speeds. Suitable for intermediates up to and including Frontside speed addicts.”
