It only takes 100 yards to realize the Nordica GT 84 is going to be very easy to like. Great skis are like that; they let you know right away you’re in the presence of a faithful friend and ally. Fast technical skiing is similar to those falling-backward trust exercises done at team-building seminars, only performed over and over in rapid succession. On GT 84’s, you know they’re going to catch you every time. Nordica’s GT 84 Ti imparts this sense of all-encompassing security because it doesn’t take every ounce of the skier’s energy to bend it. Its clever core construction depends on prepreg sheets of carbon instead of glass, a weight eliminator on a par with liposuction. Its twin sheets of Titanal are also run through a weight loss regimen, producing a crisscross diamond pattern in the forebody that softens longitudinal flex while retaining a rigid beam when set on edge.
If you like your turns short, accurate and effortless, the Nordica GT 80 Ti is your kind of ski. The way it amplifies the skier’s efforts makes a less skilled carver feel like a world-beater and great skier feel like he’s doing nothing at all. Its point guard quicks come in handy in bumps, where it can fit through fall line fissures no wider than a keyhole. The GT 80 Ti’s idea of Nirvana is an endless, undulating white carpet where it can double-rail its relatively short carved turns all day long. The faster it goes, the better it skis, but it doesn’t require high speed to shine.
While it’s always sketchy to over-analyze data drawn from a small sample, perfect scores are hard to ignore. The 2019 Famous 10 earned 10’s across the board for Short-Radius Turning and nearly did the same for being Early to the Edge. If you’re a slalom-turn devotee who doesn’t want to sling around the heft of a race ski, the Famous 10 is a potential life partner.
