I got to try next year's skis!

[Verve]

I have an update about our beloved Yumi & Kenja - now the Secret 84 & 88 respectively for next year. I skied the new Volkl’s today and then only construction changes our rep pointed out for the Secret and Mantra lines is a 4th radius turn type added in just by the widest part of the shovel. They also sort of rerouted the carbon stringers in that area to reinforce the torsional stiffness there. The idea is that this is now the 4D to their 3D radius edge, offering an even shorter, quicker turn type. I skied the Mantra 88 (ie Kendo) because I’m tall and can’t say I noticed the tip behave any differently - this remains a turny, stable ski that feels like it is velcroed to the snow. Same with the Mantra M7 which is the same construction as the Secret 96. This ski to me feels like a Cadillac - so smooth, not playful but highly capable in a range of conditions, easy to get on edge for a relatively beefy ski with a big shovel. Impressive crud perform (or slush performance as the day went on). I get why these skis are so popular. I didn’t get to ski the Yumi/Secret 84 - I’m not sure our rep brought it :( but I’ll check with coworkers and report back if they have thoughts.

aaaaaaNd I stand corrected! The Mantra M7 and Secret 96 have the tip changes / 4D story first - the narrower skis in the line seem unchanged. Sorry for confusion! Our rep was putting me on the Mantra M7 first but then we swapped for the Kendo 88 at the last minute and I got my stories mixed.

 

[11694s]

I own a lot of skis, that being said I'm here to discuss the Nordica and K2. I'm 5'9' about 150lbs. strong expert skier.

First off what I own:
Nordica SA 88 172cm
Nordica SA 100 177cm
K2 Mindbender 89Ti 176cm
Plus a few other Nordica and K2 that aren't relevant to the discussion.

What I demoed:
Nordica Enforcer 89 172cm
K2 96c 176?
K2 82TI 177cm

My thoughts:
The first ski I took out was the k2 82Ti 177cm suited to on piste groomers. It was ok, handled speed, but I think I would want something that felt more solid underfoot for on piste skiing. Keep in mind my style of skiing is a lot faster and more aggressive than most women so what I prefer may differ from the average advanced woman skier.

I enjoyed the K2 96C 176cm, I wanted to try something without metal that I could drive into a bump and not get deflected. The ski was floppy on the flats, didn't feel like it had a lot of lift/float for 96 underfoot but I really enjoyed it on an ungroomed steep trail with some bumps/ice/piles of snow. I felt confident I could direct the ski and would consider this as part of my quiver for snow days, it was fun and easy to ski, I felt like I could let my skiing go on it and not have a stiff board that I needed to think about which way I would ski irregular terrain in so that I wouldn't get bucked around, this ski I just pointed down the hill. It gets deflected of course but it doesn't have metal so that's to be expected. I would buy this ski.

NOW! The Nordica Enforcer 89 172cm had me smiling from the get go. Strong ski, held on solid ice, plowed through everything, damp, gripped the snow extremely well, Got deflected in bumps because it is a solid ski but overall this could be your 1 ski quiver. I BOUGHT THIS SKI! I've skied it in some fresh snow and it had more float than the Mindbender 89Ti, I really like this ski, it's a go to ski for me.

Hope this helps, even though these are MEN's skis I ski on.
My goal would be as a quiver to have:
Nordica Enforcer 89 172cm
Nordica SA 87 172cm for bumps because it's softer ski
Nordica SA 9? 179cm for snow days
K2 96c 176cm for fun
K2 90C women's version 170cm for bumps

 

[Posse Mama]

Wow I think would be seriously overwhelmed with so many choices !!
I am really looking forward to trying the BP 88's this coming season

I recently skied the new, 2025 BP 88's. I have to say I was not a fan of the original version even though it is the best selling woman's ski. The new ski is more stable under-foot but still too soft in the front for me. I am 67 years old, 5'6" and 185lb for reference.

 

[contesstant]

I own a lot of skis, that being said I'm here to discuss the Nordica and K2. I'm 5'9' about 150lbs. strong expert skier.

First off what I own:
Nordica SA 88 172cm
Nordica SA 100 177cm
K2 Mindbender 89Ti 176cm
Plus a few other Nordica and K2 that aren't relevant to the discussion.

What I demoed:
Nordica Enforcer 89 172cm
K2 96c 176?
K2 82TI 177cm

My thoughts:
The first ski I took out was the k2 82Ti 177cm suited to on piste groomers. It was ok, handled speed, but I think I would want something that felt more solid underfoot for on piste skiing. Keep in mind my style of skiing is a lot faster and more aggressive than most women so what I prefer may differ from the average advanced woman skier.

I enjoyed the K2 96C 176cm, I wanted to try something without metal that I could drive into a bump and not get deflected. The ski was floppy on the flats, didn't feel like it had a lot of lift/float for 96 underfoot but I really enjoyed it on an ungroomed steep trail with some bumps/ice/piles of snow. I felt confident I could direct the ski and would consider this as part of my quiver for snow days, it was fun and easy to ski, I felt like I could let my skiing go on it and not have a stiff board that I needed to think about which way I would ski irregular terrain in so that I wouldn't get bucked around, this ski I just pointed down the hill. It gets deflected of course but it doesn't have metal so that's to be expected. I would buy this ski.

NOW! The Nordica Enforcer 89 172cm had me smiling from the get go. Strong ski, held on solid ice, plowed through everything, damp, gripped the snow extremely well, Got deflected in bumps because it is a solid ski but overall this could be your 1 ski quiver. I BOUGHT THIS SKI! I've skied it in some fresh snow and it had more float than the Mindbender 89Ti, I really like this ski, it's a go to ski for me.

Hope this helps, even though these are MEN's skis I ski on.
My goal would be as a quiver to have:
Nordica Enforcer 89 172cm
Nordica SA 87 172cm for bumps because it's softer ski
Nordica SA 9? 179cm for snow days
K2 96c 176cm for fun
K2 90C women's version 170cm for bumps

I'm considering adding the SA 87 as my daily driver as I believe it would be a tad more forgiving than my Nelas, which I do not love in flat light (because they like to go FAST) and get deflected in untracked powder. Plus they are getting long in the tooth since I've skied the crap out of them! So, your review of the Enforcer 89 is helpful. Essentially, I want a narrow wide ski to complement my wide narrow ski for days with shallow powder or leftover powder where I don't want the width of my Sheevas.

 

[santacruz skier]

I'm considering adding the SA 87 as my daily driver as I believe it would be a tad more forgiving than my Nelas, which I do not love in flat light (because they like to go FAST) and get deflected in untracked powder. Plus they are getting long in the tooth since I've skied the crap out of them! So, your review of the Enforcer 89 is helpful. Essentially, I want a narrow wide ski to complement my wide narrow ski for days with shallow powder or leftover powder where I don't want the width of my Sheevas.

What about the Volkl Blaze 86's ? Did you get them? Wouldn't they fit that bill?

 

[contesstant]

What about the Volkl Blaze 86's ? Did you get them? Wouldn't they fit that bill?

I don’t like them. They are too light and send every ripple in the terrain right up my legs into my body. I also continue to find them to not hold up on long radius turns with any speed. I truly need skis with some titanal.

 

[santacruz skier]

I don’t like them. They are too light and send every ripple in the terrain right up my legs into my body. I also continue to find them to not hold up on long radius turns with any speed. I truly need skis with some titanal.

Are the SA 87's similar to the SA 88? A good friend (very good skier) skis the SA 88's and loves them.

 

[contesstant]

Are the SA 87's similar to the SA 88? A good friend (very good skier) skis the SA 88's and loves them.

The SA 87s are next year's SA 88. I owned and skied the 88s for 3 seasons and also loved them (although I liked the version with 2 sheets of metal the best.) So, knowing I've always had a love for the SA series, I'm figuring the new 87 with a bit more dampening and tail rocker might be right up my alley.

 

[santacruz skier]

The SA 87s are next year's SA 88. I owned and skied the 88s for 3 seasons and also loved them (although I liked the version with 2 sheets of metal the best.) So, knowing I've always had a love for the SA series, I'm figuring the new 87 with a bit more dampening and tail rocker might be right up my alley.

Are the SA 93's changing as well? Hard to keep up with it all !
I demoed the SA 93's in Taos in 2020 and thought I was on the 153's. I really liked them, but when I turned them in the guy in the shop said, "how did you like the 161's?" I THOUGHT I was on the 153's but they gave me the 161's by accident. Anyhow, I really liked them a lot. It was between the Sheeva 9's and the SA 93's ... Sheeva 9's won out because I found them much cheaper ! So now I'm primarily on the Sheeva 9's and/or Sheeva 10's.

 

[contesstant]

Are the SA 93's changing as well? Hard to keep up with it all !
I demoed the SA 93's in Taos in 2020 and thought I was on the 153's. I really liked them, but when I turned them in the guy in the shop said, "how did you like the 161's?" I THOUGHT I was on the 153's but they gave me the 161's by accident. Anyhow, I really liked them a lot. It was between the Sheeva 9's and the SA 93's ... Sheeva 9's won out because I found them much cheaper ! So now I'm primarily on the Sheeva 9's and/or Sheeva 10's.

Yes, the entire SA series has been changed.

 

[santacruz skier]

Yes, the entire SA series has been changed.

Ah guess I need to investigate!

https://www.skiessentials.com/Chairlift-Chat/2025-nordica-santa-ana-ski-preview

 

[MissySki]

The SA 87s are next year's SA 88. I owned and skied the 88s for 3 seasons and also loved them (although I liked the version with 2 sheets of metal the best.) So, knowing I've always had a love for the SA series, I'm figuring the new 87 with a bit more dampening and tail rocker might be right up my alley.

I demoed the new 87 and I stand by the Blaze 86 being more damp and stable at speed. The new version skis really short of the SA. Though they are very fun too. YMMV.

 

[ski diva]

Are the SA 93's changing as well? Hard to keep up with it all !
I demoed the SA 93's in Taos in 2020 and thought I was on the 153's. I really liked them, but when I turned them in the guy in the shop said, "how did you like the 161's?" I THOUGHT I was on the 153's but they gave me the 161's by accident. Anyhow, I really liked them a lot. It was between the Sheeva 9's and the SA 93's ... Sheeva 9's won out because I found them much cheaper ! So now I'm primarily on the Sheeva 9's and/or Sheeva 10's.

Maybe this will help?

Nordica
Some of you may have heard that the Santa Ana line is being redesigned for next year. There are a number of construction changes "under the hood," so to speak, and they're giving them some tail rocker. This confuses me, because I had the 2018 Santa Ana 93 and thought it had plenty of tail rocker. Did they take it away in subsequent years? I don't know. In any event, next year's SA's will have tail rocker; they claim the ski will have a more "playful" feel. I'm a big Santa Ana fan, so I skied next year's SA 93. Yes, a great ski, but to be honest, I didn't find it any different than I did in the past -- which really isn't a bad thing. Could be the driver, instead of the equipment.

 

[MissySki]

Are the SA 93's changing as well? Hard to keep up with it all !
I demoed the SA 93's in Taos in 2020 and thought I was on the 153's. I really liked them, but when I turned them in the guy in the shop said, "how did you like the 161's?" I THOUGHT I was on the 153's but they gave me the 161's by accident. Anyhow, I really liked them a lot. It was between the Sheeva 9's and the SA 93's ... Sheeva 9's won out because I found them much cheaper ! So now I'm primarily on the Sheeva 9's and/or Sheeva 10's.

I found the nee 92 to be different.. a bit more friendly and playful imo. Fun ski!

 

[santacruz skier]

I found the nee 92 to be different.. a bit more friendly and playful imo. Fun ski!

Oh interesting.....

 

[santacruz skier]

Maybe this will help?

Interesting....

 

[AJM]

I found the nee 92 to be different.. a bit more friendly and playful imo. Fun ski!

Our local ski shop owner is raving about these, she took them to Canada and had a blast on them.

 

[BlueSkies]

I had a chance to demo the new Nordica SA 87, 92 and 98. Although one of my friends loved the 98, I was not impressed with their performance on our New England hard pack. The 87's were much better, but I was surprised that I enjoyed the 92 the most as I have been tending to like narrow skis more as I get older.

 

[Verve]

I had a chance to demo the new Nordica SA 87, 92 and 98. Although one of my friends loved the 98, I was not impressed with their performance on our New England hard pack. The 87's were much better, but I was surprised that I enjoyed the 92 the most as I have been tending to like narrow skis more as I get older.

Funny you should say that about the 87. The shop I work at typically has carried just the 84 & 93 but we’re bringing in the 87 next year bc my coworker loved the 87 demoing earlier this year. Glad you liked it!

 

[contesstant]

Funny you should say that about the 87. The shop I work at typically has carried just the 84 & 93 but we’re bringing in the 87 next year bc my coworker loved the 87 demoing earlier this year. Glad you liked it!

I should be able to get out on the 87s and 92s this Friday, as well as some others brands.