The Nordica Astral 84 was brand new for 2018 and shares a similar design and construction concept to the men’s Navigator series. The Astral series in general provides an alternative to the women’s Santa Ana skis. The Astrals are narrower, have a flatter, squared off tail shape, and instead of two full sheets of metal they use Nordica’s Torsion Bridge technology. Torsion Bridge is essentially a sheet of titanal with specific shapes removed, leaving a grid of metal engineered to deliver the performance benefits, while also reducing overall weight. At the core of the Astral 84 is a balsa wood core, which further enhances the weight savings of Torsion Bridge. With a versatile tip shape borrowed from their soft snow skis and a tail shape focused on carving, the Astral 84 will be a super fun all mountain ski for a lot of women.
Ali Berlin was “pleasantly surprised with these skis,” after she tested both the 158 and 165 cm lengths. She did comment that the 158 cm felt a bit short for her, which she expanded on in her feedback. “Very lightweight, but held up well in the choppy snow. They floated over the crud. The 158 cm was less stable, but I let them rip with the 165 cm and the edge to edge transition was smooth and effortless. Ali didn’t give the Astral 84 a single score under 4 out of 5, which is always really impressive. It’s also important to note here that the Astral 84 hits an impressive price point of $499, relatively inexpensive for a ski of this performance. Ali thought it was an “overall great ski,” and we agree.
Ariel Aidala skied the 165 cm Astral 84 and mentioned that she “could totally see this as my new all mountain/can-do-it-all ski under 100 underfoot. For its price, this ski performs well on varying snow surfaces and can actually really rip too.” Nordica has definitely done a great job with the design and construction of the Astral 84. It’s light and user-friendly, but still performs at a high level and really benefits from that titanal Torsion Bridge. “It is a snappy ski with an amazing value that should not be overlooked for its more popular sister the Santa Ana.” We agree. It’s fairly easy to skip over the Astral 84 when shopping for a Nordica women’s all mountain ski, but it’s worthy of your attention.
Susan Dorn and Katrine Wolfgang both tested the 165 cm length. Katrine’s response was that the Astral 84 would be a great all mountain ski for a “solid intermediate” and we totally agree. Anyone up through the expert level could enjoy it too, depending on specific skier demands. Susan described its performance really well. “Nice solid ski. Good balance between flotation and dampness. Quick edge to edge. Fun to ride.” Susan actually gave the Astral 84 the highest scores of the test, mostly 5 out of 5 with only forgiveness and edge grip getting a 4 out of 5. “My preference would be for a little more damping, but the quickness makes up for it.” That’s understandable, as the Torsion Bridge doesn’t have quite the same level of vibration damping as full sheets of metal, but as Susan accurately notes, the benefit is that the ski is much lighter and quicker.
The Astral 84 really offers a nice level of all mountain performance for a lot of women. It’s arguably a more responsive performance, especially on firm snow, compared to the Santa Ana collection thanks to the flat, squared off tail. It completes a carving turn very nicely, but also feels versatile thanks to the tip shape and relatively small turning radius. Overall the Nordica Astral 84 is just a pleasure to ski around the resort and we would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, mid-80 mm all mountain ski.
