The definition of “all-mountain”
The Nordica Santa Ana series dominates the women’s specific all-mountain ski market. With multiple waist widths for different conditions, terrain, or ski styles, there’s a Santa Ana for everyone. After years of success, Nordica decided it was time for a shakeup. This newly designed Santa Ana 92 builds on the versatility of the former Santa Ana 93, with some fresh refinements that help this ski ride better than ever. We dive into the construction differences, and what that means for you on snow in our full Nordica Santa Ana 92 review.
Nordica Santa Ana 92 Review: Field Notes
The Nordica Santa Ana 92 hosts a completely new mold, shape, and construction. Nordica keeps their unique terrain specific metal (TSM) design with the Santa Ana series. For those unfamiliar, TSM is Nordica’s metal construction used in the Santa Ana series and Unleashed skis. The wider the ski, the less metal is used in the ski. For example, the Santa Ana 92 has less metal than the narrower Santa Ana 87, but more than the wider 97. The idea is that the narrower the ski, the more optimized for firm snow and carving the construction should be.
The Santa Ana series also gets the Pulse Core tech underfoot as the Enforcer series, a dampener that makes things more smooth and powerful underfoot. We’ll talk more about how damp the new Santa Ana feels below.
You’ll also find a brand new shape. Most notably, the Santa Ana 92 gets deeper tail rocker and more tail splay. That gives you greater maneuverability back at the rear of the ski and makes it easier to release the tail in tight terrain, or even to slarve some carves.
I’ve gotten to ski the Nordica Santa Ana 92 a few different days now—early season at Vail and recently at Loveland for a light powder day (about 5 inches of fresh). I’ve been skiing on the 167cm since that’s all Nordica has had to share for this pre-release, which is shorter than I normally ride these days at 5’8″ and 135lbs. That said, this was a length I was happy skiing for years as a progressing skier, and I had skied the Santa Ana 93 mostly in a 165cm, so that gives me a pretty direct comparison between the two. But, enough of the techy stuff. Let’s dive into how it feels on snow.
Groomers
Being the second narrowest Santa Ana in the series and knowing the way the old Santa Ana 93 skied, I was excited to see how this felt on trail. The Santa Ana 92 feels solid on edge, damp, and doesn’t appear to have a speed limit. The ski felt easy to engage and was relatively quick to roll over on edge. It’s energetic and engaging to carve, but doesn’t require you to press the gas so hard. Frankly, for a ski in this waist width, I had no notes for it to carve any better.
The directional shape (even though it has more rocker now) holds such a solid turn and leaves plenty of shovel in front of you to press into. At the same time, you can more easily take a relaxed stance. You don’t need to have World Cup racing technique or years of experience on skis to carve these and have fun. Even though this was on the shorter end for me, I didn’t feel like I was going over the handlebars. Its extra dampness and stability left me feeling confident in my turns.
Probably the most unique feature of this ski compared to others in this waist width is the energy. The liveliness of popping in and out of carves sticks around from the older Santa Ana 93. To me, the older version felt maybe “too” lively, whereas this version feels well-balanced. The energy came at the right time, and in between the ski rides planted and smooth. Even as we skied over scraped-off sections or firmer sections on the trail, the Santa Ana felt planted and tracked turns well.
Bumps and Trees
While the Santa Ana crushes groomed terrain, the off-trail performance is where she sets herself apart from other all-mountain skis. For how well this ski carves, it has no business pivoting and maneuvering in bumps as well as it does. To me, the terrain specific metal comes into play here. Because the ski isn’t too torsionally rigid from a full sheet of metal, it feels fairly forgiving in tight terrain.
The ski doesn’t buck you off your line if you wind up in the back seat. Compared to skis that feel pretty stiff from tip to tail, like the Volkl Secret 96 or Head Kore 91, the Santa Ana 92 is happier to ski a little slower and won’t feel as punishing if you miss a turn or two. The Pulse Core tech underfoot helps you reach dampening and suspension that feels close what those two offer as well.
For me, the increased tail rocker is noticeable compared to other versions. It felt easier to pivot and get the ski to take tighter lines. Nordica told us that one of their main goals was to make the skis more fun at slower speeds. To me, the combo of TSM and the new shape hit the nail on the head. As I was skiing a little slower, the ski retained all the energy and fun as it does at higher speeds.
Overall, the ski is more forgiving and accessible if you’re still progressing off-trail. That said, I still wouldn’t call it “playful”. It’s not as quick and nimble as a Black Crows Captis Birdie. And, certainly not as slashy or pivot-y as an Armada ARW 94. It is still a solidly directional shape and flexes on the stiffer side. It just balances a more planted and damp feeling that supports skiing in tough conditions or more aggressive riding with a shape that’s intuitive and pretty easy to maneuver.
Mixed Snow and Powder
I didn’t ski super deep powder on these, but we did score some soft snow during our day at Loveland shooting our video review (coming soon!). I loved the energy in the ski again here—it felt like I could easily bop and take lively, dynamic turns (my favorite in pow).
My feedback is similar to the previous version in deep and mixed snow. The energetic ride, increased rocker, and dynamic style allow you to skip around the challenging snow and get to the softer stuff. The directional shape and metal also lets you push through the heavier stuff more easily. So, it accommodates different styles well. If you size up for more directional turns and higher speeds, the Santa Ana 92 will serve you well. Size normally or down, and the Santa Ana will be delighted to dance around the mountain with you.
Considering the Santa Ana 92 is just 92mm underfoot, the powder is not her specialty. But, I fully understand some folks would be using this ski as a one-ski quiver, or potentially their soft snow-focused ski. That said, I think you can find some similarly waisted skis that are a bigger bang for the buck in soft snow. Skis like the Elan Ripstick 94 and Salomon QST 92 Lux pack a punch for the waist width. And if you were constantly seeking out softer snow, I might recommend something like that or a wider Santa Ana.
For my ski style, I prefer a bit more heft and width for skiing in softer snow. I got to ski the Santa Ana 102 at Vail when we saw the lineup, and I’m much happier on a ski that width in choppier snow. That said, I started out on wider skis. A lady shredder who is used to navigating softer snow on narrow sticks will probably get along with the Santa Ana 92 plenty well.
Downside?
The only downside I found for this Nordica Santa Ana 92 review was the performance in deeper snow. Like I said, some models out there will give you bigger bang for the buck in this waist width. But, at 92mm underfoot, we’re not expecting this ski to ride deep snow exceptionally. I think the Santa Ana 92 fully holds her own when you do find soft stuff, just don’t expect a super surfy of floaty performance there.
Bottom Line
The Santa Ana 92 wears many hats. Turns out, ski tech and design makes skis better at everything and more appealing for a wide range of people. It’s pretty wild to see. While the Santa Ana 92 isn’t supremely playful, it’s forgiving when it needs to be and will help make you a better skier. It’s not a hard charger but provides dampness and support at higher speeds or tougher conditions without beating you up. The all-mountain category is constantly looking for a Goldilocks ski, and I think Nordica may have found her.
