2027 Nordica Unleashed 106

The 2027 Nordica Unleashed 106 represents a move towards more freeride in the Unleashed division, with the hope of keeping the creativity and playfulness as big parts of the conversation. It’s fair to say that this ski replaces the Unleashed 108, and brings more of a directional feel to the mix, but it’s also accurate to state that the 106 is an equally good carver, even though we’re not always focusing on carving within this range. These skis use metal and light wood paired with a long and low rocker profile to create a versatile and fun freeride ski that we’ve had an absolute blast on this past winter.

Built with Nordica’s Drift Lock technology, the Unleashed starts with a poplar wood core to keep the overall feel light and mobile. The “lock” part of the equation is the use of a central titanal band that extends through the cambered length of the ski. It does not cross into the rocker, keeping the ski planted on the snow in a carved turn, but if you want to ride the ski a bit flatter, the rockered portion of the skis are unencumbered by that titanal band. They use carbon stringers in the core to boost the energy and pep and you can definitely feel the ski’s preference to rebound out of the turn as opposed to being held in for too long. That’s something we still see in the Unleashed 98. They’re on the stiff side underfoot, but have some decent flex in the tips and tails to accommodate softer snow performance. They’re not too heavy, weighing in at about 1900 grams in the 185 cm length. This makes them stable and predictable without being overly demanding. Tester Ben Grunow states that “My first impression was that the ski felt quick, light, and very easy to move from turn to turn. It had an intuitive feel right away and made it simple to engage the edges without much effort. While it didn’t feel overly heavy or damp, it still maintained a sense of control that inspired confidence across different speeds and conditions.”

The directional nature of this ski is best exemplified in its non-symmetrical shape. The mount point is even 1cm further back than Enforcer at about –8.5 cm from center. Since they’ve always been known as more of a twin tip, it’s interesting to see this emphasis on directional performance as a priority from Nordica. The ski uses a sidecut dimension split of 137/106/126 to generate a 17.7-meter turn radius in the 178 cm length. With gratuitous rocker and taper, these skis have that floaty mentality when it comes to deep snow. Fortunately, we had a great snow year and were able to test these skis extensively in the appropriate conditions and terrain. Matt Stromecki spent a lot of time on it and calls it a “Stout and powerful freeride ski. It's a Nordica, so you have to look at this ski like how Nordica looks at the Freeride category. It's powerful and somewhat stiff, damp, and has a more precision than others in the category. It is a more intuitive turny in softer snow compared to the outgoing 108, which is fun. The tail is also easier to release becuase of the added taper. You can get these to be nimble, it just takes slightly more input as they aren't the most surfy freeride ski. Feels like a stiffer and more precise QST 106.”

We have been pretty stoked on the Unleashed 106 and are curious if this new technology will satisfy the needs of playful and creative skiers as good as it does with more directional freeriders. Overall, it turns extremely well, floats just fine for a 106, and has Nordica’s powerful and stable feel that we have loved for years. It’s more of an advanced and expert level ski that makes a lot of sense as a wider all-mountain option or a narrower powder ski for those who have lots of snow where they ski.