2023 Nordica Santa Ana 104

The 2023 Nordica Santa Ana 104 Free are amazing skis for advanced and expert lady skiers who seek and search the deepest and most challenging parts of the mountain, leaving clean and round turns in their wake. With the Enforcer and Santa Ana pedigree to lean on, the 104 Free has that ideal blend of power, poise, and precision that just works really well in a wider all-mountain ski or narrower freeride ski format. Built with Nordica's denser wood core, the skis get one sheet of terrain-specific metal. In these wider skis, the metal laminate leaves more of the wood core exposed, allowing for a more playful feel while keeping the stability and dampness to appropriately high levels. Additionally, the skis have a fair amount of rocker to go along with a moderately tapered shape for prime flotation and amazing surfiness. Skiers looking to carve turn on firmer snow will also really enjoy that metal laminate, and when combined with the 16-meter turn radius in the 165 cm length, these skis really come alive in a surprising and energetic manner.

Alli Ruschp skied the 165 and found it to be true to size. Flotation, stability, torsional stiffness, and edge hold all got the coveted 5’s out of 5 on the scorecard with 4’s given for overall impression, forgiveness, playfulness, quickness, and maneuverability. She notes that the Nordica Santa Ana 104 Free is “Still one of my favorite powder skis, it's a powerful ski that can go just about anywhere. I feel confident on this ski when I am in powder, the trees and on ice. Stability on ice is a plus since powder on the east coast comes with ice underneath. A little heavy and aggressive for an intermediate skier, designed for a strong skier. Love the play in the tips and tails, making it easy to ski in tight trees and bumps. Slightly fatiguing for a long day of powder skiing.” The extra weight does equate to more stability at speed, so it’s all kind of a tradeoff at some point.

Alix Klein found the 158 to be too short for her, but that didn’t stop her from having a good time. She gave the ski a top score of 5 out of 5 for flotation, with the rest of the scores as 4’s. This is a very high-end baseline average score for the ski, even at 104 mm underfoot and a bit too short. “This is a great ski for an aggressive intermediate skier who wants to ski a variety of terrain. Stable and moderate edge to edge. Ready to charge in large radius turns and switch to short pivot turns on tight slopes. Great for a young freeski competitor, this ski is a great tool.” Kristi Brown skied the 172 and noted its trueness to size. Again, all 4's and 5's, but Kristi had more 5's, including those for overall impression, torsional stiffness, and edge hold to go along with flotation and stability. Kristi's got some introspective questions regarding the 104: "Big Girl Quiver Question - 93 vs 104..... east coast west coast or just skier personality driving this decision. I love both and the 104 is super spunky and forever stable with the benefit of more power with the size and floatability. You cannot go wrong with either...Bigger quiver question-what do you have already? These days with the amazing skis out there skiing east coast mainly. I would go with a 102 / 104 and an 88 ski width if I could have two skis or adding to quiver. Out west would be longer and wider definitely."

Quick for a 104, floaty and smeary all at the same time, these Santa Ana's check a lot of boxes for advanced and expert ladies who love to shred the whole mountain. For a skier in a lower-snow area, these would serve well as a powder-day ski, but if you live in a snowier zone, the Santa Ana 104 Free would make an excellent daily driver. Kristi alludes to this multi-use potential in her comments, and it's certainly a worthy discussion for these skis, as they do blur the line between a wider all-mountain and a narrower freeride ski for sure.