2023 Nordica Santa Ana 93 Unlimited

For 2023, the Nordica Santa Ana line expands into the Unlimited range. By taking the existing shape and profile of an already popular model, Nordica lightens the load and makes the ski not only more accessible for a broader range of ability types, but also brings the backcountry into the foreground. In the 165 cm length, we get a 15.5-meter turn radius and a weight of 1350 grams per ski. This is pretty light, and while it’s not ultra-tour/skimo light, the fact that it has the shape and profile of a Santa Ana and skis like one too makes this a formidable weapon for touring and resort skiing alike. Built with a lite performance wood core and two carbon/fiberglass laminates, these skis have a good amount of energy for the weight. Nobody’s going to confuse this ski with either a true powder ski or a hard-charging all-mountain ski for expert skiers, but the versatility of both range and scope makes it super-attractive for skiers who want one pair of skis for uphill and downhill applications.

Alix Klein skied the 165 and noted that it felt short for her. The light weight certainly has a lot to do with how these skis feel on your feet, and Alix is definitely picking up on that. That lighter weight feeling also filtered into her scores and feedback, as it seems like her responses were made based on this ski in more of a resort setting versus one that has both uphill and downhill personalities. She scored it low marks of 2 out of 5 for overall impression, stability, and flotation, with 3’s for torsional stiffness, edge hold, and playfulness. Her higher 4’s out of 5 went for versatility, forgiveness, quickness, and maneuverability. Alix notes that the 93 Unlimited felt “Chattery/short- these did not feel stable and they liked to make pivot turns. These felt less secure at high speeds.” If you’re an aggressive skier and you’re driving this ski, on a shorter length than you are already used to, it’s not too surprising that Alix would feel this way about these skis.

Catherine Ferguson had a better experience overall than Alix, and she was on the true to size 165 as well. Catherine’s top scores of 5 went for overall impression and flotation, with 4’s for stability, quickness, maneuverability, playfulness, and versatility. This is a higher spread for sure, showing that Catherine found something enjoyable in a resort setting about the Santa Ana 93 Unlimited. “Another tour-specific ski, this is much lighter than the regular Santa Ana. It still had the flowy feel when riding it though which I liked. For being a light weight ski, it really held on the hard packed snow. This would be good for an all-around back country skier who likes to hit nose dive in the morning or wants to go on a tour in the woods.” We have found the stiffness to be apparent as well, in both the Santa Ana and Enforcer Unlimited skis.

It’s difficult to nail down a target audience for this ski. Is it the person who skins once in the morning and then rides the lifts for the next few hours, or is it a touring-specific skier who never sets foot inbounds? Or is it something different—someone who just wants a lighter and quicker ski for the resort and likes the Santa Ana 93 shape and profile? Either way, this is a darn good ski for a lot of different reasons, but the versatility stands out more than most.