2022 Nordica Soul Rider 87

Snappy, quick, and awesome are vying for the most significant adjective used to describe the 2022 Nordica Soul Rider 87. Full disclosure: I use one to ski with my kids and through the tight woods here in Stowe. It is, without a doubt, the best tree ski for low/no snow days I've ever been on. Not meaning to pile on the superlatives here, but it is so incredibly fun. I'm 6'2" and 220 pounds and an aggressive skier, so there's no real reason I should be on something this light and quick, but I do love it. When I first tested it out two winters ago, I was instantly blown away by how quick and snappy it was, and although it doesn't really make sense on paper for a skier like me to have one, my current pair has about 120 days on it and is close to being one of my favorite skis of all time. So, bias aside, how do other skiers feel about this fairly simple, fairly narrow twin tip? Short answer: they like it too! The ski returns for 2022 unchanged structurally but with a far more subdued topsheet graphic-pretty much matte black with green lettering-a bit plain compared to the older versions, but pretty cool looking nonetheless.

Harrison Gorham heard me tout these things for the first year I owned them and I think he was sick of me talking about them. But then he got on them. He skied the 185 and gave top marks for stability, quickness, and maneuverability. Stability? In a wood core twin tip? Guess so! In addition to the appearance of his test ski, Harrison calls it "fast, stable, super-maneuverable, and snappy. Great pop and not too soft. Not noodle-like." It's almost like he was expecting a noodle, but was pleasantly surprised when he skied the Soul Rider 87. Harrison's brother Connor also skied the 185 and was quite surprised. His description reads like he thought he was skiing in a video game. Top marks for stability, quickness, maneuverability, and edge hold for Connor, and a strong overall impression as well. "For an 87-mm waist, it shifted side to side with precise control. Quick jukes and triangle buttons were made easy! Overall a great start to my day!" After skiing the Soul Rider 97 a few skis later, he updated with an "87>97."

Another Soul Rider 87 owner, Jeff Neagle, has some good feedback on his own pair: "Quick, nimble, lively, and just plain fun to ski. In a sense, I've been on a multi-year, extended test on the Soul Rider 87. More than anything, it's a park ski, but it's a well-rounded park ski that handles other terrain well too. Probably the most surprising thing about the Soul Rider 87 is its edge grip and torsional stiffness. There's plenty of camber and no early taper, so you get long edge contact even at a moderate edge angle. It's more energetic and poppy than Enforcers too, which makes them really fun to link mid-radius carves at moderate speeds. In fact, they might even do that better than Enforcers. On the other hand, they don't have the same stability at speed and can get deflected, especially on my center mounted 177 cm at my size. In the park, they're super fun. The same characteristics that give the ski good edge grip also provides stability when landing. A lot of park skis feel sketchy on big jumps, but the Soul Rider is great. The swing weight is also minimal, which makes spinning onto rails and switch ups nice and easy. Well, sure, not easy, but easier than on a heavier ski, that's for sure." First-hand knowledge of these skis definitely goes a long way, making a long-lasting impression on would-be shoppers for sure.

On a side, and sadder note, these skis are in their last year of production. Nordica will come out with something else for 2023, so if you want a real ski in a twin tip shape, you should run, not walk, to get your hands on a pair of these. Also sad to note, after almost 250 days of skiing on my personal pair, they finally succumbed to irreparable damage at the end of this season. I will be keeping them in my ski shrine forever.