More Nordica Enforcer and Santa Ana skis? Dreamy.
Testers: Alex, Mikey
For those of us who love how the Nordica Enforcer series rides inbounds but don’t want to bring it uphill, Nordica treats us to a lighter model: the Enforcer and Santa Ana Unlimited. With the explosion in recent years of alpine touring and the emergence of a new “hybrid” category of skis, boots, and bindings, it was only a matter of time until Nordica brought the wildly successful Enforcer and Santa Ana into the touring fray.
The Unlimiteds aim to give skiers more maneuverable and accessible versions of those bestsellers at tour-able weights. We’re reviewing the Enforcer 104 Unlimited, as it was inspired by one of our all-time favorite all-mountain/freeride skis: the Enforcer 104 Free. The Enforcer 88 and 94 and the Santa Ana 88 and 93 round out the collection.
Field Notes
Essentially, the Unlimited skis mirror the shapes from their corresponding “regular” models with entirely different ingredients. The idea? Shed weight, increase playfulness and maneuverability, retain enough strength. In considering these skis, remember that Nordica positions them as “lightweight freeride skis” rather than specifically “backcountry skis.” That difference means the Unlimiteds should be able to handle resort skiing as well as backcountry demands. Nordica encourages skiers to pair them with hybrid touring bindings like the Shift. They’ll also match just fine with full-on tech bindings or alpine options.
The Enforcer 104 Unlimited replaces the metal from the original with a proprietary blend of carbon materials that Nordica calls “Carbon Chassis LT.” They say the carbon plus a lightweight wood core of poplar and beech reduces weight while maximizing performance—these are “Enforcers” after all. They also trim the ABS plastic from the tips and extend the wood core to further reduce swingweight and enhance playfulness.
For reference, the Enforcer 104 Free weighs 4130 grams per pair (179cm size), while the new Unlimited version shaves that number down to 3300 grams. The Unlimited profiles at 60% rocker and 40% camber.
Let’s dive into how they ski.
Groomers
Alex: I thought this ski was pretty fun to rip around on groomed terrain with! They don’t quite lock into the snow as much as a ski with less rocker and a longer effective edge. Still, they are easy to turn over and get on edge, and still feel plenty planted on the snow. If the snow is a little fresh, or if you hug the edges of a groomer at the end of the day with some soft piles of soft snow, you’ll feel right at home.
Mikey: I did not get many turns on a groomer (it was a powder day!), but when I did find harder snow, these skis held an edge very well despite so much rocker. On top of that, they were very stable and damp at higher speeds. The only con was they did not seem to have very much energy pushing back out of a carve. You have to compromise compared to the regular Enforcers in this area. But they were easy edge to edge and stable when they needed to be.
Bumps and Trees
Alex: I’ve always loved the 104 Free shape for how dang easy it is to pivot in tight places. That extra tail rocker just allows you to release turns very easily, and navigate tight places casually. I think I might even like this version more. Now, without the extra weight, this feels even easier to swing around. I had a blast zippering through some small moguls. The slightly softer flex feels a bit more fun and forgiving, while still providing a stable platform. With less weight, I had way more energy to keep my pace up through the whole line too.
Mikey: Despite the 104mm waist width, these were easy to turn through a trench line or tree line. In the bumps, they were not too stiff to be able to open turns into more GS turns through the bumps, plowing up and over them as the line changed.
Powder and Mixed Snow
Alex: For me, this is where the ski is at home! One of my favorite things about the original 104 Free was it’s ability to blast through chopped up or heavy snow with a super smooth ride. Even though Nordica took metal out of this ski, the Unlimited still maintains that very stable, smooth-like-butter feeling. I loved skiing it in soft chop. You could confidently ski fast through it without worrying about getting tossed around, or take a quick turn and change up your line. As expected, in that untouched powder, these float like an absolute dream.
Mikey: When it came to turns in deep fresh powder, the Enforcer 104 Unlimited had no issue floating. I am a small dude, so the 104 underfoot was plenty, and I did not feel like I had to lean back to keep my tips up. The skis charged through as if I was on a groomer. Being so light, these skis were easy to maneuver when they got a bit more buried and I had to make a quick turn to get out of a line. As the day progressed and the snow became more choppy and variable, they stayed surprisingly stable in the tails and light and poppy when popping from bump to bump. This choppy and soft snow was when they really shined for me. They were easy to drive despite the mixed up lines and random bumps in run outs. One last highlight here; the landings and run outs after drops and cliffs. I felt very stable, once again, and felt the tails continuously support me even when getting bucked to the backseat.
Uphill / Touring
Alex: I took this pair with a Shift binding out for a longer tour the other day (with minimal downhill skiing, mostly just skinning around in the woods). For that kind of day, I normally would just take my lighter setup. I was pleasantly surprised while touring how light the ski felt. Later, skiing down through some sunbaked, heavy snow, I was very happy to have these skis instead. So often we imagine skiing dreamy, untouched powder in the backcountry, but sometimes it’s really quite variable, and it’s nice to have something that can handle that not-so-dreamy snow. I wouldn’t hesitate to put a tech binding on here and have it as a dedicated backcountry ski.
Downside
Alex: The Unlimited didn’t quite bite into hard pack or firm snow as much as I might want it to. The combination of being light weight, and heavily rockered, doesn’t keep the ski as stable on firm conditions compared to other touring focused skis. That being said, I didn’t notice this until skiing on a completely scraped off, steep slope (and honestly, there are few skis that perform well on that terrain). On the other hand, those touring skis with a flatter tail are certainly a lot less fun than the Unlimited.
Mikey: My biggest compliant was just the lack of energy when coming out of a turn while carving. Actually, on the second day I skied them, they did seem to get a bit tossed around on more hard pack stuff. But with how the ski feels in soft snow, I’ll take the compromise.
Bottom Line
The Enforcer 104 Free Unlimited is an awesome addition to Nordica’s lineup. While it may not offer the hard-snow performance of carving skis or the regular metal Enforcers—and it certainly doesn’t match the power and stability of the latter in mixed snow—it holds up to resort conditions much better than we expected. Not to mention, it excels at skiing anything from dust on crust to deep powder, and you get that performance in a lightweight, maneuverable package. We find the Unlimited to be exceptionally versatile both inbounds and out, making it an ideal 50/50 ski and one of the best “lightweight freeride skis” we have tested.
