2027 Nordica Unleashed 106 Ski Review

The all new 2027 Nordica Unleashed 106 is a modern take on a directional freeride ski, that frankly, we love more and more each time we ski it. Built on an entirely new platform with a whole new construction, the Unleashed 106 is a powerful and versatile ski that should do quite well in the mid-100's freeride category. This ski takes the spot of the outgoing Unleashed 108, providing more of a smooth and predictable soft snow skillset to go along with rock-solid on-trail performance. By lengthening the rockers in both tips and tails, increasing taper, and providing a bit more camber underfoot, this new ski brings with it an intuitive feel and high-end capacity for expert level skiers. Interestingly, the intuition starts more with carved turns and then moves more into the off-piste. This ski feels incredibly comfortable on a groomer, but then the more you ski it, the more you learn it can do. It’s that type of progressive learning that has made this particular experience of getting to know the 106 so distinctly fun.

Built with Nordica’s Lite Performance wood core, we get a poplar wood core to power the ski. Nordica then adds carbon stringers to the mix, boosting energy and responsiveness. One of the keys to the new build is the use of their Drift Lock Technology, placing a single strip of metal that runs vertically from rocker to rocker and is just wider than the binding mounting zone. This allows the tips and tails to “drift” in deeper and softer snow while the middle of the ski can be “locked” into a carved turn on firmer and smoother snow. While Nordica’s site lists the 190 cm length weighing 1980 g/ski, we put ours on the scale and got a bit heavier at 2075 g in that length. Either way, hovering about 2000 grams is a good place to be for mixing the attributes that Nordica is focused on. Any heavier and the mobility suffers, and any lighter, and the damping and power takes a hit. In terms of flex, these skis follow the pattern of the construction, with somewhat more flexible tips and tails to go along with a stiffer mid-zone. This, again, aligns with the intent of having the ski vacillate between floaty and playful freeride as well as firm and direct carving.

At a Glance:

2027 Nordica Unleashed 106 Skis

When it comes to shape and profile, the Unleashed 106 brings a modern yet directional attitude to the hill. It’s modern in that it has progressive and low rocker in both tips and tails for easy maneuvering, and it is directional in the fact that the more rearward mount point and stance make it dynamic in carving turns as well as smooth and composed through erratic conditions. Nordica refers to this as a Freeride Flow Shape, with the hopes of conjuring notions and feelings of fluidity on the hill as the ski is intended to be polyvalent in terms of use. At 8.5 cm behind center, the mount point favors less freestyle and more all-mountain, but it’s still short of being truly frontside/directional. Again, we’re dealing with a mixture here, rather than a binary thing. The taper is one of the bigger differences between the outgoing 108, as the 106 relies on longer early taper, especially in the tips. The tails are rounded, but the shovels are more spoony and spatula-oriented than the 98 or 108. This moves the needle more towards soft snow compliance and increased natural flotation and buoyancy rather than direct transfer of energy—something we loved about the 108, but admittedly didn’t make a ton of sense in a ski that wide designed for freeride. The taper of the new 106 makes more sense for the intended application. The turn radius is about “normal” for a ski like this, and it follows the length, approximately, so the 178 cm length has a 17.7-meter arc, the 185 an 18.7, and the 190 a 19.2. Easy to remember, and easy to find. These skis, when you stand on the edges and find the radius, like to come across the fall line with intent—a similar feeling to other Nordica skis like Enforcer and Unleashed skis. Fortunately, we were able to spend A LOT of time on these skis over this past winter and were able to draw on numerous types of conditions and terrain for our testing experience.

Bob’s Take:

As a big fan of the all-mountain and classic feel of the Unleashed 108, I was skeptical that Nordica could make something better. What I didn’t realize is that the 106 doesn’t have to be better at what the 108 does; it just has to offer something different, and in this case, more versatile. That’s what I think we’ve got here in the new 106—a ski that stands up to the rigors of true all-mountain skiing while also having a high end freeride ceiling. It didn’t take too many turns on the groomers to figure out that this ski is pretty darn aggressive and can withstand a strong and direct skier. At first, I felt a bit overpowered by the ski and felt like it just wanted to run. It took a few runs before I learned to corral the ski by, frankly, slowing down a bit and letting the ski do more of the work. When this happens, the ski starts to want to turn more, especially across the fall line, functioning very cleanly and properly in a medium-radius arc. You can still let it go whenever you want and get sublime high-speed stability, but it is more fun for me as a skier to hit that mid-range and get some more bend in the ski. It’s just not quite as intuitive of a carver as the 108, but it is more amenable to different styles of turns and it is more stable at speed.

The off-piste performance of the ski took me a minute to get used to, partly because the ski is pretty stiff underfoot. You must learn to unweight a bit to get it to smear and drift, but when you figure out the balance point, you start to learn that the 106 can do all sorts of different things. When I first took them in the trees, I felt that the ski’s stiffness was a hindrance, but then realized that the tips and tails can pick up the slack. At that point, the ski became more shifty and agile than I originally thought. In powder, I felt at first that the ski wanted to turn more across the fall line and engage in a carve, but then I realized that the shovels can float really well if you take more central stance, letting that longer forebody pop up and do more work. The bumps are tough—there's no two ways about that—but I’ve never had a whole lot of success on a 2000 gram ski at 106 mm underfoot in the moguls anyway. You can be aggressive and fast if you’re young, making air your friend in the bumps, but if you’re an older skier who likes to keep their skis on the ground, it’s a bit of a challenge and honestly not a huge surprise. In crud, chop, and other variable snow conditions, this is where you want to let the ski do its thing and just motor through the chunks. It blows them apart and is super satisfying to just plow through adversity like it’s not even there. My favorite part of this ski is just setting a goal for it and seeing if it can accomplish it. Other than tight bumps, the Unleashed 106 is very impressive at being able to solve whatever issue is placed in front of it.

Jeff’s Experience:

For years and years, I was a Soul Rider skier. Loved those skis. Then I fell in love with the Enforcer 104 Free. Such a fantastic ski. Soul Riders eventually turned into the Unleashed line and I quickly became a fan of the Unleashed 98. I still am, although the Unleashed 98 CA has worked its way into my quiver, rather than the metal-clad option. The wider Unleashed skis, however, never really worked great for me. Good skis, but I found the shape of the 108 to be a bit too demanding in challenging terrain for me. Admittedly, I found myself wishing for the old Enforcer 104 Free or even Enforcer 110 Free.

I was quite excited when I started to see this new Unleashed 106 shape. I was very happy to see Nordica brought some early taper to its shape as that’s really what I thought the 108 lacked. It’s not as important in the 98, the wide tips and tails work for that ski, but in deeper snow, that taper is nice to have. Having now spent a considerable amount of time on this new Unleashed 106, I can happily say it fulfills the freeride and powder performance I used to love in those Enforcer 104 and 110 Free models. It’s not quite the same, of course. Those skis were heavier, and I appreciate the slightly lighter feel of the Unleashed. It just makes it a little easier to flick around. Certainly wouldn’t be described as lightweight, but there is a noticeable difference. Also, the taper makes it easier to release the tail compared to the previous Unleashed 108, so it brings some versatility in turn shape to the ski that was somewhat lost in Nordica’s offerings for the past couple years.

You do have to work a little bit when you have it in tight terrain, but an athletic advanced or expert level skier won’t have too much trouble wrangling it. It’s not tremendously forgiving in tight terrain, but it’s not punishing either. When you get into more open terrain where you can let it run, I find it really comes alive. The Unleashed 106 does an excellent job absorbing inconsistencies in terrain and conditions which, for me, translates to a ton of confidence. I can’t think of another ski off the top of my head that I feel as good on skiing fast through variable conditions. It has the necessary stability, but if you need to shut it down, it won’t complain if you throw it sideways to dump speed.

Talking about groomer performance for a ski that’s 106 mm underfoot always feels a little silly, but Nordica makes it pretty hard to not talk about those things. These skis absolutely rip carving turns. I found myself just wanting to go wall to wall on relatively steep groomers. They’re so much fun at a high edge angle. I wasn’t able to get them to arc into shorter radius turns as well as Matt, which probably is both due to difference in skier weight and the difference in age, but they do come across the fall line well enough that you can regulate speed.

My only gripe with the Unleashed 106 is a personal one. The Enforcer 104 Free had a further forward mount point than this ski, so if anything, they’ve taken the “twin tip” collection (what I consider Unleashed to be) and made it more directional than previous generation directional freeride skis. I understand this is a subjective wish and I do think there are probably more skiers in the world who prefer it in a directional shape, but I personally would prefer it to have a little bit more freeski influence. You can ski it switch and you can do fun progressive things on it, but it’s not as good as some in that regard. That said, if you added some of that performance, you would inevitably take away some of its performance as a directional ski. There’s obviously a balance and I’m perfectly happy with the direction Nordica has taken it, I just also acknowledge that I personally would prefer a more freeski-inspired shape like, for example, the new Blizzard Canvas 108. They’re sister brands, Nordica and Blizzard, so I think it makes a lot of sense for one brand to lean one direction and the other the opposite direction, so I’m perfectly happy with the scenario from a macro-perspective, it’s just something I thought I’d mention.

Matt’s Reaction:

Since I have been an owner of the Unleashed 108 for the past few years and them being my daily driver when we are not testing, I was both excited and nervous about this new 106. Excited because who doesn’t like to try something new from a brand like Nordica, especially with it having a lot of influence from the newer Unleashed 120 which I really got along with? Nervous because I am ride or die for the 108 and would be disheartened if this new 106 could not live up to my expectations. After our first run or two, I admittedly was closer to the nervous end of the spectrum as I couldn’t quite figure out what they wanted to do. They felt super stiff and weren’t super eager to turn. Then I realized, I was trying to ski them like my 108’s which are far softer and hookier. I resorted to skiing these like I do every new ski I test, take it slow and get to know it, a coffee-date if you will. Once I learned what its hobbies and preferences were, the doors were blown open, and I went the complete opposite direction from being nervous that Nordica flopped to being more than excited. It felt like the perfect combo of the Unleashed 108’s freeride mindset with the Enforcer 104 Free’s carving performance. They are smearier and surfier than the 108 but more turny and dynamic than the 104 Free, it hits the goldilocks balance point. That being said, it’s a demanding ski. Dense, stiff, and packed with power that you can use to your advantage if you are willing to put the work in. The new spatula tips with taper just rip you across the fall line in a carved turn and the stiff tail keeps you honest through the end of the turn. You can manipulate your carved turn shapes intuitively as the sidecut, rocker, and taper work well together when you start experimenting with edge angles. From my experience, edge angle dictates your turn shape more than the outright amount of pressure you put into the ski during a turn. When there is chopped up snow of any sort of variability in front of you, these things eat it up like a starved animal. Point them and they will obey. The Drift Lock Technology is certainly carrying it’s weight here as I am hard pressed to think of another 106 that has this level of edge grip and smoothness while also being surfy and drifty.

The stiffness and heft of the Unleashed 106 becomes apparent off trail, especially in our tighter trees. The stiff flex forces you to stay active and engage your turns from the tips. You can’t ride the tails and rudder your way through like a QST 106. Because of that, they are not very forgiving, so your turns need to be calculated and intentional. You need to be proactive in tighter, more technical, terrain rather than reactive. You can ski them reactively if you have space, but not here. More success was found in tighter lines when skiing more centrally and playing the unweighting game between turns. I did have a few turns in seemingly bottomless snow here at Stowe, and the Unleashed was incredible. Although the camber and stiffness were there, the drifty and surfy character comes to the forefront of their performance. There’s a video of those turns and between each turn, I got airborne. So that shows just how much energy was loaded into the ski from turn to turn. Very fun. We had the 185 cm length for testing, and I found no limit in terms of stability. At 6’2” and 200 lbs, I am right between the 185 and 190 cm length. Recently, I picked up a pair of these new 106’s in the 190 cm length, so that should be a blast coming into next season. I think that these are going to scratch the itch for a lot of people who are looking for a 104 Free or Unleashed 108 replacement. Wherever you go on the planet, these are fantastic travel skis, you can carve all day long and be ready for the storm when it comes.

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