2027 Nordica Unleashed 106 CA

The 2027 Nordica Unleashed 106 CA is a snappy, fun, freeride ski that is best suited to softer snow and inventive terrain. These skis are all about having a good time on the hill and have many attributes that skiers of all levels of seriousness will enjoy. At 106 mm underfoot and with a zippy construction, the Unleashed 106 CA is a mid-fat freeride ski for the masses. Equally at home in the trees as it is on the groomers, this ski has a broad range and power band for all sorts of skiers.

Built with a poplar wood core, the Unleashed 106 CA uses carbon stringers to add to the pop. While they do not have the metal laminate of the 106 Ti, they still have a stiff and solid feel that makes them amenable to variable speeds, conditions, and terrain. We had the 171 cm length on the scale at 1720 g/ski which is on the lighter side for a ski this wide. It makes sense due to the blend of power and mobility—two things that don’t often go together but really make sense in this ski. This is a unisex ski, with sizes ranging from 152 to 185—something for everyone! Tester Matt Stromecki calls it an “Awesome freeride ski! As the owner of the Unleashed 108, this new 106 is a great refinement and change to a more modern freeride ski. Although the CA does not have any metal in it, it feels very similar to the Ti version. These things want to GO. No fear of speed or what is in front of them, just bulldozers. The added rocker and new shape is incredible for soft snow. I did find that the tails were a bit stiff in our tight trees, so you need to stay forward in the boot and really drive the tips at all times. You can't really rudder the tails like you can with a QST 106. But for someone like me, this is a top contender for a 1 ski quiver for here at Stowe. They are insane carvers but are great in the trees and for freeride.”

These are, amazingly, more rearward mounted than an Enforcer, showing the directional lean to the 106 CA. Given the height and length of camber, this works just fine at –8.5 cm from center to provide a balanced feel between carving turns and floating through trees. We do think that the park or freestyle application takes a bit of a hit here, but they seem to be fine with that at Nordica, and our testers don’t mind all that much either. The 178 uses a 17.7-meter turn radius for clean and round arcs—the turning and carving capacity of this 106 is right there with the amazing pull that we always felt with the Unleashed 108. Tester Jeff Neagle states that “It's interesting to ski the Unleashed 106 and Unleashed 106 CA back-to-back. Obviously, they share the same shape, and even beyond that, they're quite similar... there is a difference in vibration damping vs energy, however. I have to say, I do think I prefer the increased energy of the Unleashed 106 CA. I'm sure some of that has to do with being a relatively smaller, or I guess just not a heavy skier, but even if I was a bit bigger, I still might prefer the CA. It's no slouch at speed and still has good stability and vibration damping, but it's a little more energetic than the metal-clad ski and just quicker overall, which I appreciate. It's lighter, too. Not much, but you can feel it, which for me helps when popping 180s and when just being kinda silly on the mountain.”

So far, we’ve been very impressed with the on and off-trail capabilities of the Unleashed 106 CA. It’s really not a precipitous dropoff at all going from the Ti to the CA, and for many skiers, the slightly lighter CA will make more sense, especially if you prefer a more energetic ski.