SquidWeaselYay
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It is no secret that I am currently struggling with some boot issues, so keep that in mind when reading my reviews. I've been having trouble skiing my OWN skis, so take all of this with a heaping pile of salt. Also, conditions were complete CRAP, with piles of styrofoam-like pelleted snow placed randomly on top of the East Coast Marble (nearly skating-rink quality ice). I took everything down Minuteman, which is our longest blue run. My stats: 5'1", 123lbs, 32 years old. Advanced skier, but struggling lately.
Nordica Santa Ana 93, 161 length: The first ski I demo'ed this year, also my favorite of the entire lineup I tried this ski last year, and for some reason it didn't jive with me then. This year, it simply sailed through the crud and piles, and actually gripped as well as my Kenjas on the ice when it hit the scraped off parts. I was able to do long and medium turns, and it would do short radius if I insisted. Which is pretty impressive considering the conditions. It was more nimble in the small bumps than I thought it would be. I didn't take it into any moguls, but I was impressed with how it did in the little ones at the top of minuteman. It feels shorter than the 161 length, but in a good way. Floated pretty well, and the rocker made it easy to navigate the varying snow quality. It is the only ski I was on where I felt like I was "one with the ski." The only drawback for me was getting used to a ski that fat, as the widest thing I own is 90 ww. But even so, I loved how it floated over all the nastiness and gripped the ice when needed. I didn't want to get off of this ski. I took it on 3 runs. 5/5 overall.
Icelantic Maiden 101 (I can't remember the length of this one, this Icelantic rep was super chatty and I had trouble focusing): Wow, this was a NOODLE to me. When I clicked into it, the tips quivered just from me getting into the binding. Skating up to the lift line made the whole ski vibrate, and I did a little test lean and could nearly butter it. And I can't butter anything. I knew it was soft and very rockered, but I wanted to try it because I never tried a ski like this before. It felt kinda unstable to me because I am used to stiff skis, so I didn't even know what to do with myself on this at first. I took it through whatever bumps I could find, and as long as my fore-aft balance was good, this thing was PLAYFUL. It wanted to just pivot around everything and be smeary. I could see where this would be a LOT of fun in some fresh powder (actual west coast pow, not the heavy wet stuff we normally get in south-central PA). It just wanted to spin and turn like crazy. The tips felt flappy, but again, not a ski meant for ice and piles of man-made granular. It did not feel as wide as it was, which was surprising. I was afraid to try to edge with it, but when I did, it was there for me...barely, but it was. Overall, all the Icelantic skis felt kinda unstable and soft to me, and this was the softest one. Hard for me to rate this ski, since it wasn't designed for the conditions I used it in.
Icelantic Oracle 100: Felt floppy in the rockered tips, and definitely felt all of that width. Hard to go from edge to edge, and felt unwieldy and sluggish. Stiffer than the Maiden by about 10 miles, but still felt soft to me. The rocker just feels weird on this. Edges did NOT hold up to the ice, ended up just skidding a lot. Didn't even bother trying to push the turn radius limits, had a pack of kids in front of me and didn't want to do another run on it. 2/5.
Icelantic Oracle 88: Again, floppy-ish tips in the rocker section, but easier to handle than the Oracle 100. Still felt harder to go edge-to-edge on this than on the Santa Ana 93. More playful than the 100, but not confidence inspiring. I felt like the rocker and sidecut of this one has a learning curve. I did charge on it at the bottom, and it did withstand speed and aggressive turning, but I was a little nervous the whole time lol. More forgiving and playful than my Black Pearls, but didn't feel as solid to me. I think this would be better as a west coast ski. 3/5.
Volkl Yumi 156: This felt squirrelly as all get out. I had trouble trusting this ski enough to push it, even though I know Volkl edges to be top notch. The 84 ww felt hella narrow. I could make it do any size turns I wanted, and the rocker made it playful. They wanted to go fast, which surprised me for how light and flexible they felt. Too skittish for me underfoot, but I could see this being a really good ski in a longer length for really tiny, lightweight women or teens. Was surprisingly forgiving. 2/5.
Rossignol Experience 100 166: Whoa. This ski rode ME. The rep told me that this skis short, and that 166 is a good length for me, but that was NOT my experience. The tips wandered on me even with an aggressive forward stance, and I had trouble getting the tails to release me from the turns. I tried to get it up to speed, but it was throwing me around so badly when I hit snow piles that I abandoned that and just focused on making it to the bottom without going on my tush. Hard to go edge to edge for me, had to muscle it around. Nope. This truly felt like an expert ski to me, and I felt humbled when I handed it back to the rep lol. 1/5.
Line Pandora 110 162: YIKES. I thought I had a hard time on the Rossi...the the Pandora said "amateur hour" and stepped up to re-aquaint me with what it feels like to have no control whatsoever. Far too wide for me, and definitely not right for the conditions. Felt heavy, sluggish, and edging took herculean effort. I don't feel it did nearly as well with the varied conditions as the Santa Ana, my Black Pearls, or the Oracle. This ski punished me for every error, and was the most work with the least amount of return than all the skis I tried. I couldn't bend this sucker at all, and when I tried, I would hit a pile of crud and be tossed. I couldn't find the sweet spot on this ski to save my soul. Not forgiving, not playful, but could have been conditions and my skill level at play as well. 0/10.
Not as detailed as I wish I could be, but I only took 1-2 runs on each ski in some seriously bad conditions (with boot probs). The only ski I fell in love with is the Santa Ana, and the only other one I liked was the Oracle 88. I would have liked to have tried that one in better conditions and on different terrain.
Well, that's it! I hope it is a little helpful at least!
Nordica Santa Ana 93, 161 length: The first ski I demo'ed this year, also my favorite of the entire lineup I tried this ski last year, and for some reason it didn't jive with me then. This year, it simply sailed through the crud and piles, and actually gripped as well as my Kenjas on the ice when it hit the scraped off parts. I was able to do long and medium turns, and it would do short radius if I insisted. Which is pretty impressive considering the conditions. It was more nimble in the small bumps than I thought it would be. I didn't take it into any moguls, but I was impressed with how it did in the little ones at the top of minuteman. It feels shorter than the 161 length, but in a good way. Floated pretty well, and the rocker made it easy to navigate the varying snow quality. It is the only ski I was on where I felt like I was "one with the ski." The only drawback for me was getting used to a ski that fat, as the widest thing I own is 90 ww. But even so, I loved how it floated over all the nastiness and gripped the ice when needed. I didn't want to get off of this ski. I took it on 3 runs. 5/5 overall.
Icelantic Maiden 101 (I can't remember the length of this one, this Icelantic rep was super chatty and I had trouble focusing): Wow, this was a NOODLE to me. When I clicked into it, the tips quivered just from me getting into the binding. Skating up to the lift line made the whole ski vibrate, and I did a little test lean and could nearly butter it. And I can't butter anything. I knew it was soft and very rockered, but I wanted to try it because I never tried a ski like this before. It felt kinda unstable to me because I am used to stiff skis, so I didn't even know what to do with myself on this at first. I took it through whatever bumps I could find, and as long as my fore-aft balance was good, this thing was PLAYFUL. It wanted to just pivot around everything and be smeary. I could see where this would be a LOT of fun in some fresh powder (actual west coast pow, not the heavy wet stuff we normally get in south-central PA). It just wanted to spin and turn like crazy. The tips felt flappy, but again, not a ski meant for ice and piles of man-made granular. It did not feel as wide as it was, which was surprising. I was afraid to try to edge with it, but when I did, it was there for me...barely, but it was. Overall, all the Icelantic skis felt kinda unstable and soft to me, and this was the softest one. Hard for me to rate this ski, since it wasn't designed for the conditions I used it in.
Icelantic Oracle 100: Felt floppy in the rockered tips, and definitely felt all of that width. Hard to go from edge to edge, and felt unwieldy and sluggish. Stiffer than the Maiden by about 10 miles, but still felt soft to me. The rocker just feels weird on this. Edges did NOT hold up to the ice, ended up just skidding a lot. Didn't even bother trying to push the turn radius limits, had a pack of kids in front of me and didn't want to do another run on it. 2/5.
Icelantic Oracle 88: Again, floppy-ish tips in the rocker section, but easier to handle than the Oracle 100. Still felt harder to go edge-to-edge on this than on the Santa Ana 93. More playful than the 100, but not confidence inspiring. I felt like the rocker and sidecut of this one has a learning curve. I did charge on it at the bottom, and it did withstand speed and aggressive turning, but I was a little nervous the whole time lol. More forgiving and playful than my Black Pearls, but didn't feel as solid to me. I think this would be better as a west coast ski. 3/5.
Volkl Yumi 156: This felt squirrelly as all get out. I had trouble trusting this ski enough to push it, even though I know Volkl edges to be top notch. The 84 ww felt hella narrow. I could make it do any size turns I wanted, and the rocker made it playful. They wanted to go fast, which surprised me for how light and flexible they felt. Too skittish for me underfoot, but I could see this being a really good ski in a longer length for really tiny, lightweight women or teens. Was surprisingly forgiving. 2/5.
Rossignol Experience 100 166: Whoa. This ski rode ME. The rep told me that this skis short, and that 166 is a good length for me, but that was NOT my experience. The tips wandered on me even with an aggressive forward stance, and I had trouble getting the tails to release me from the turns. I tried to get it up to speed, but it was throwing me around so badly when I hit snow piles that I abandoned that and just focused on making it to the bottom without going on my tush. Hard to go edge to edge for me, had to muscle it around. Nope. This truly felt like an expert ski to me, and I felt humbled when I handed it back to the rep lol. 1/5.
Line Pandora 110 162: YIKES. I thought I had a hard time on the Rossi...the the Pandora said "amateur hour" and stepped up to re-aquaint me with what it feels like to have no control whatsoever. Far too wide for me, and definitely not right for the conditions. Felt heavy, sluggish, and edging took herculean effort. I don't feel it did nearly as well with the varied conditions as the Santa Ana, my Black Pearls, or the Oracle. This ski punished me for every error, and was the most work with the least amount of return than all the skis I tried. I couldn't bend this sucker at all, and when I tried, I would hit a pile of crud and be tossed. I couldn't find the sweet spot on this ski to save my soul. Not forgiving, not playful, but could have been conditions and my skill level at play as well. 0/10.
Not as detailed as I wish I could be, but I only took 1-2 runs on each ski in some seriously bad conditions (with boot probs). The only ski I fell in love with is the Santa Ana, and the only other one I liked was the Oracle 88. I would have liked to have tried that one in better conditions and on different terrain.
Well, that's it! I hope it is a little helpful at least!
