The Nordica Santa Ana 93 is a super versatile all mountain ski that’s designed for advanced to expert level women who like to explore the whole mountain. It shares a shape with the men’s Enforcer 93, but the Santa Ana gets its own wood core that integrates balsa alongside poplar and beech to lighten up the ski and soften the flex just a touch. There’s still two sheets of .4 mm thickness titanal, just like the Enforcer, along with prepreg carbon fiber. With plenty of tip rocker, camber underfoot, and a little bit of tail rocker, the Santa Ana 93 has been known for its versatility in terms of different turn shapes and its ability in a wide range of terrain. We were excited to get more testers on it in our 2019 test!
Mar Kuhnel, who had not skied this new version of the Santa Ana 93, was really excited to get on it. After skiing the 169 cm length she gave it really high scores across the board. In fact, the only score under a 4 was for forgiveness, which still got a 3.5. Mar started her feedback on Santa Ana 93 with a big “Woot!” Based solely off that and her scores, we think she loved it, but luckily we can dig deeper than that. “So glad they added metal to this ski. Responsive, stable in heavy spring snow. They really take off if you stand on them. Nimble short turns, smooth and stable long turns, easy to finish turns or throw them sideways to dump speed. Playful, confident. Sweet.” Gosh, what more can you ask for in an all mountain ski? Basically nothing if you ask us. That’s super high praise from Mar, who has tested a lot of different skis over the years.
Ann MacDonald, who also did some testing on the Nordica Astral series, gave us some nice comparisons after her test runs on the 169 cm Santa Ana 93. “Stiffer than the Astral, bigger turning, and more stable, but not as playful.” That makes a lot of sense as the Santa Ana 93 uses more metal, has a slightly longer turn radius, and is an overall heavier, slightly more demanding ski. Ann referred to it as “more of a machine, which is better for a more aggressive skier.” We’d agree. The Santa Ana 93 is best on the feet of relatively advanced, relatively aggressive skiers. Those that aren’t as aggressive will likely be happier with an Astral.
Caroline Kessler, who actually skis the Santa Ana 93 quite a bit in her day to day skiing, focused her feedback on the performance that those two sheets of metal delivers. Caroline was also testing the 169 cm length and referred to it as an “east coast all mountain ski.” Sure, we’re with you Caroline, although we wouldn’t turn a western skier away from it either. According to Caroline, “the two sheets of metal make it very stable when you’re ripping turns down groomers.” We agree, but don’t forget about Mar’s reaction about the ski’s ability to make different turn shapes. It does a lot more than just rip high speed groomer turns.
Ariel Aidala tested the shorter length, the 161 cm. “My first observation was that I couldn’t really tell there was any metal in these! The ski was light, even with a demo binding on it.” It’s nice to know that the extra weight that comes along with two sheets of metal isn’t creating a drastic difference or doesn’t feel exceptionally heavy. Ariel felt that the ski had both “great stability and forgiveness,” which is a really hard characteristic to achieve. Ariel specifically thought they would be a blast on “steeper trees and the Front Four on a 6” powder day.” If you’re not familiar with the Front Four at Stowe, they are steep, consistent runs that cover about 2,000 vertical feet.
The Santa Ana 93 can be different things for different skiers. Like to ski fast and aggressively? You’ll appreciate those two sheets of metal. Prefer maneuvering through trees and skiing soft snow? The shape of the Santa Ana 93 is great for that type of skiing. All in all it’s an exceptionally versatile ski that has become a favorite among advanced and expert skiers.
