2025 Fischer Nightstick 104

The 2025 Fischer Nightstick 104 is a robust twin tip that operates well on a bunch of different levels. We saw the 97 come through last year as a preview model, and we loved the blend of dense yet playful characteristics. Now with the 104, Nightstick takes the freeride attributes and bumps them to the next level. With the added surface area, a few things happen. For one, the ski’s smoothness through crud and chop gets a boost. That’s the biggest change. For another, the flotation increases and adds emphasis to the soft snow and deep days. This ski does not lose its freestyle shape and style, although the narrower Nightstick series of skis seems to be better suited to actual slopestyle competition.

Built with a full poplar wood core, the Nightstick 104 is a great example of how simplicity helps a lot of skis. On another side, the thickness of the core profile matters, and with this 104, it’s on the thicker side. With that, we get stiffness, strength, and durability. Underfoot, there’s a titanal plate that adds dampness and grip to the mix. Overall, though, it’s all about that thicker poplar wood core that does the heavy lifting here. In the 180, the ski tops out at over 2000 grams, so there is some beef here. In the world of modern freeride, this ski is ready to go for whatever you can possibly imagine. Tester Danny Satterthwaite noted that the 104 “Felt great. Had a surprising amount of stability and chargyness to them. Stayed planted in the chop and on longer turns but could pivot quite easily at lower speeds. Tail was stiff enough to not give way to early on lips and landings. The beefiness stood out compared to the Elan Playmaker 101.” Among competitors, this certainly makes sense that this Fischer would have the heft over a lighter weight specialist like Playmaker 101.

The shape of the ski is interesting. While there are a lot of twins in this range, the Nightstick has a surprising amount of taper to it that leads to smoothness. Most others are spoonier in shape, emphasizing pure flotation, but these want to take a more direct line down the flight path. We like how this ski comes in a 188, as for larger skiers, that’s going to be the sweet spot. The 180, though, generates a 19-meter turn radius, which is on the shorter side for skis like this. It’s fun to access it as well, utilizing the flex to find the arc, pushing all the way through the turn. As a twin tip, this ski has freestyle in its heart, so the 104 is more than happy to hit the park whenever asked. With tip and tail rocker to boost flotation, this is a very well-rounded freeride twin.

There will be a lot of upper-level skiers who are attracted to this Nightstick 104. We certainly found a surprising amount of performance here as the ski feels both planted to the snow as well as willing to find the sky. There’s not much of an intermediate application here—skiers who are looking for something more manageable will find more in common with something like the Playmaker. Skiers who can bend the ski and are looking for more power will be very happy with this new Fischer Nightstick 104.