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 single ski can change American skiers’ infatuation with wide, off-trail models, but the Dobermann Spitfire 80 RB would gladly volunteer for the job.
“Easy turning and forgiving,” notes Bobo’s Theron Lee. “Feels like a western Frontside ski, able to handle soft snow as well as hard. Good energy feedback but not overly damp. Suitable for intermediates up to and including Frontside speed addicts.”
The tip-to-tail camber line on the Spitfire 80 RB creates an instant connection at the top of the turn and releases energy at the bottom with a peppy pop. “A great dynamic performer,” assesses Start Haus’ Jim Schaffner. “I could have a blast all day on groomers with this one.”
You might think its race-style plate would make the Spitfire 80 an unmanageable hellion in low-depth crud, but the opposite is true. By stiffening the ski, the plate also stiffens its resolve to kick the crap out of whatever is in its way. If your plan for the Spitfire is to crush high-speed groomers in the early morning and you have the skills to commit your hips to the turn, the plate defangs all vibrations that might perturb your blazing descent.
To get full value out of the Spitfire 80, it pays dividends to be skilled. Pay heed to the remarks of Corty Lawrence, who is the epitome of the strong, technical skier: “80mm is a good width – versatile yet still agile and playful. Like all Nordicas, you need to be lord and master,” by which he means you better be in charge or else the ski will be. Jim Schaffner, also powerful technician, summarizes his perception of the Spitfire 80 as, “A very playful experience, very easy to ski. A very good Frontside super-ski.”
Frontside skis and World Cup, FIS-blessed race skis both allege they’re on their best behavior on hard snow. That much is true, but don’t think for a minute that they handle prepared slopes the same way. The fact is, the gulf between race skis and recreational skis made for the same (or at least, similar) surface has never been deeper or wider. Race skis don’t just require skills that 95% of the ski population don’t possess; they require physical conditioning and mental discipline absent in closer to 99% of the general population.
The Fischer RC One 82 GT is built to bridge this gap. If you want to feel like the demi-god of carving, your search is over. There’s no need to get in an exaggerated posture or press into the tips for all you’re worth; the RC One 82 GT is easily directed from a comfortable, centered stance. They behave like World Cup training wheels: you can mimic the moves of the masters without having to have their level of athleticism and skill.
Its edge grip is to die for. On a steep pitch where other Frontside specialists would flinch, the RC One 82 GT held with far less exertion. This is precisely the mission of the Frontside ski: to magnify the skier’s energy rather than drain it. The extra weight this ski hauls around helps a ton when it comes to sticking to a pencil-thin line on hardpack. Its sidecut and construction deliver an ultra-secure, short-radius turn; its shock-sucking mass and materials keep it quiet when you let it run.
There’s a mini-trend emerging of loose Frontside skis that are meant to be more amenable to off-trail action; the RC One 82 GT can hold its own in some off-piste conditions, but it remains an unequivocally Frontside ski. While it aims to please a highly skilled skier, it’s not hard to ski. In fact, its stability throughout its inexhaustible speed range makes it a great tool for getting an advanced skier over the expert hump.
If you don’t know how to engage a ski at the top of the turn, and don’t care to know, you might as well stop reading about the Nordica Dobermann Spitfire 76 RB right now. It has the cleanest, highest, earliest connection to the next turn in a category in which this particular trait is prized. But if you’re still lingering on the downhill edge when you should already be tilting in the other direction, you’ll miss the moment. Don’t worry if you do, for the Spitfire 76 will find the edge as soon as you give it a chance. But part of what makes this review an unblushing rave will pass you by.
If you’re hooked on the G’s generated in a short turn, you’ll feel right at home on this cobra-quick stick. It has the reflexes of a fencer, moving unerringly into the center of the arc where it ignites and, as it says in its name, fires the skier across the fall line. The Dobermann Spitfire 76 RB has all the qualities a strong skier expects in a race ski, just de-tuned a red hair so it’s more fun for freeskiing. Jim Schaffner from Start Haus, a big man with an engrained race technique for which the term “powerful” seems inadequate, wrote of the Spitfire 76, “I felt like I could do anything on this ski. It’s fun, lively, snappy, with a dash of the Dobermann race heritage feel.”
I can’t write about the Nordica Spitfire 76 without flashing on images of Mike Rogan, America’s best ski instructor and the only 7-time US Demo Team member, on a pair of these skis. Whenever I see a picture of a skier in perfect position, every angle as immaculate and as symmetrical as an M.C. Escher etching, I check to see if it’s Mr. Rogan. Like Roger Federer, his style is both classic and inimitable. None of us will ever be as good as Federer or Rogan, but on the Spitfire 76, at least for a few turns, you can imagine you’re the latter.
If you assembled a personality profile of the Liberty evolv 84 based on appearances, you could be excused for thinking it’s some variety of all-mountain ski. Which I’m sure it’s intended to be, but it behaves more like a GS ski with a fall-line fixation. Its sunny cosmetics suggest a free spirit that will float over anything fluffy; in reality, the evolv 84 is one of the most connected carvers in the Frontside genre.
The reason the evolv 84 is so well planted on planet Earth is its triple-ribbed core. A little background: Liberty grew up as a brand building bamboo and carbon skis that would bring both lightweight and stability to wide-body skis. Then designer and co-owner Dan Chalfant conceived of Vertical Metal Technology (VMT), aluminum ribs placed vertically in the core so they would resist deflection more than the putty-soft horizontal Titanal sheets that are the norm.
As embodied in the evolv 84, VMT creates a ski with a fall-line disposition. Short turns tend to be shallow, keeping close to the shortest path downhill. If you want it to head cross-hill, get forward and drive the evolv 84 as you would a race ski. Its tail provides a platform you can trust, so while its turn finish isn’t explosive, it’s totally trustworthy.
Because it’s not a system ski – there’s no plate or other interface between the skier and the snow – the evolv 84 has a clarity of snow feel that most carvers with its tenacity lack. John Beesley, head of the Mt. Rose Ski School,” praised the evolv 84 for its “great snow-ski feedback.”
As is often the case in the world ski market, K2’s carving collection straddles the Technical/Frontside divide, with the vector models landing on the skinny side (in K2’s case, 71m-74mm waists), and the more versatile, less demanding (and often less expensive) models populating the slightly wider Frontside domain. In the Disruption series, the 78 Ti isn’t a watered-down carver, just a wider one, as it borrows the same construction and almost fully cambered baseline of the flagship Disruption MTi.
Both the power and forgiveness inherent in the Disruption 78 Ti derive from the same source, a single band of Titanal the runs nearly the entire length of the ski in a uniform width that matches the waist dimension. This creates an edge that holds firmly yet softly, as if its aluminum alloy guts were wrapped in velvet. On soft groomers, it feels like the edge is cushioned yet never loses contact, thanks in large part to a baseline that has zero tail elevation and only a smidgeon of early rise at the tip.
While the Disruption 78 Ti is a departure from K2’s twin obsessions with Freeride and Freestyle designs, it’s pure K2 in its emphasis on ease of use. You don’t have to have perfect timing or Navy Seal fitness, just point, tip, repeat, and look Ma!, you’re carving! Okay, it’s not quite that simple, but damn near. Anyone buying his/her first pair of skis who anticipates staying on groomers for the foreseeable future will discover that the Disruption 78Ti encourages proper edging skills without requiring them.
