My on piste review of the Top Fuel

As promised, here is my review of the Nordica Top Fuel

Well, i took them out on sat with high expectations and was happily rewarded. The ski has the attitude of a race ski in the body and shape of an allmoutain. Great on the fall line i found them quite sustable in a wide range of turns...Long radius turns and high speed stability was amazing. The ski is the Ultimate "one ski quiver" the for expert and seasoned all conditions all mountain skier. Though its got a waist of 78mm i found myself forgeting all that waist was under me. 2 be conitued i have Class (i am in school right now)... skiing>school lol

2 BE CONT

Cool, Sandman! Be sure to tell us where you skied, conditions, etc. Looking forward to the second installment!

hey i am back...now its 7th period at school i am free again. If u didnt know i live north of Chicago sooo for me local skiing is just about getting out and practicing. On sat i went to alpine valley, East Troy Wisconsin. Its got a vertical of about 400ft...that doesnt really matter though. As the only 2 runs i actually ski there are Lodge Express and Big thunder. They are both good crusier length and are the only things steep enough to actually carve up hehe hehe (dam midwest). But was out there for about 5/6 hours....happy to get out and happy just 2 be skiing. They had about 20ish inches of base the snow was nice packed powder...a tad slushy though. It was a nice day temp was in the upper 30's and it was sunny

I cant wait until my colorado trip in December...cause i really want a chance to actually "ski". Cause the Top Fuels arent a midwestern ski.

Back to the review

As the conditions were groomed packed powder i can only speak for what i skied. The TF's were very damp at extremely high speed which can be attributed to their excellence construction and powerful capability. I really loved making big radius turns because the skis could really edge well and their stability was a confidence builder.

2 be cont ...back 2 school

I got a great deal off EBay on a pair of 178s and have now skied them 3 times, twice at Breck and once at Vail. I'm not really good enough to give a really detailed review of the Top Fuel, but I'll tell you this much: I'm an advanced/expert skier and I have never skied a better ski than the Top Fuel. It absolutely rips. It carves so well, esp. at high speeds. It holds an edge SO well. My ability to carve steep blues and blacks this weekend at Breck and Vail got me so excited. I felt so confident to open these things up on the groomed. I tried alittle crud and powder, but I've only skied in CO 4 times now, so criticing the abilities of this ski in those conditions are hard for me, but I could sense that it floats very well, b/c of the 78mm waist. Plus the wide rounded tips really helped too. The real test for me was to see how these skis performed in moguls. I was worried about their ability to make short, energetic turns on steep, hard snow or moguls when I bought them. But much to my delight, they were incredible - I was short swinging very well on steep, hard snow, and was able to ski moguls better than ever. I really had a blast on these. Very energetic, fast, no chatter at high speeds, and there were numerous people on the slope asking about them over the two days. They are definately garnering alot of warranted attention.

They are awesome because everybody needs to remember they are really good carving skis that have a waist of 78mm thats big....which i presume will make it quite competent in powder and crud

I Highly recommend them...though i havent skied the metron B5 which i presume is a similar ski....I cant wait to get out next weekend and rip on these things

i have the tf in a 170

They are a very fun ski, and they handle a variety of techniques far better than any other high-end ski I've been on. They are really nothing like the b5, though. They have a longer radius, have a different feel, and are more forgiving, I think.

Enjoy 'em!

ssh

what is 'a very fun ski?' ...... are you referring to the hrtf's?

i got a pr of 170 hrtf's last week based on research and much internet buzz. it will be a couple of weeks though before i get a chance to try 'em

i was torn b/w the hrtf's and the b5's and afraid if i didn't grab a pr. (of hrtf's)now, they'd be gone before i had a chance to demo

they are mean, nasty, bad-ass looking skis that look like they would not take kindly to anyone getting in their way

Sandman, you got the 170s? Mind if I ask what your height and weight are?

I'll be picking up a pair in a few weeks and I am usure wether to go 170 or 178. I'm 6'2" and 200lbs, advanced/expert...but I do love to ski the bumps and trees when I can so I'm on the fence.

stelmar, they are both fun skis!

But, I was talking about the Top Fuel. Here's the thing... I love ripping short carved turns. Tip and go and have the ski rocket across the hill. Make the boy smile. But, not everyone likes that. The Top Fuel is a longer-radius ski, the X-Balance system makes them very forgiving of fore/aft balance challenges, and they are more skid-friendly (IMO).

They are very, very nice skis (and probably the hottest skis out there; I've heard that some lengths are sold out from the distributor already).

Hope that helps...

Canuck,
Been using my 170's in the bumps at Copper the last 3 days on CDL, Brennan's Grin and some of the blue bump runs. They work great. I'm 5'9", 180#. They should be plenty of ski for you at 200# especially if you like the trees & bumps. The 178's are a longer turning ski that would take a lot more work for the short turning that you want to do.

bong

Listen to bong. He's a very effective skier, and was looking very good on the Top Fuels today.

Very reassuring for someone who will be using my 178TF's for the first time in Summit County on the 11th of Dec. Thanks to all for the info!

Cool. The 178 is more of a "big mountain" ski in that it likes long turns more than short ones. It also depends on where you're spending time. I think the 178s are a bit more difficult in bumps than the 170s are.

i am 5'6 and about 150 lbs i ski a 170 because i feel i can get more stability, floation, and get better turns

has anybody taken the TF's off piste???? i am really intrested 2 here about that

Top Fuel Off Piste.

Sandman,
check my review from last year, http://forums.epicski.com/showthread...rdica+Top+Fuel

I skied it in 4" to 6" of chop and soft snow last week and they worked great. They'll be fine in powder too!!

bong

I skied the 178 in bumps last weekend - I was better than I've ever been. I am 6'-4", 200 lbs so keep that in mind....

ssh/Def,

This is all good info and being 6'6" 190 I think the 178's will be fine as I'm a medium to long turn guy anyway.

I will be at ESA this year and bump improvement is one of my goals and I'm confident these ski's will do it. Fortunately I'll be in Summit County in 1 1/2 weeks to try them out.

jeeze i ski a 170cm and dont find it 2 big lol...

i am going out 2 ski again 2morrow so i will update u all if anything comes up

Cool man! The conditions are going to be great!! Where in VA do you live? I just moved form Charlottesville recently....

u r talking to me Defjef

Virginia Beach Def and looking forward to getting on snow with the TopFuels. And based on this weeks forcast it should be much better than anything here in the east.

i hate living in Chicago ...i wish i lived out west

Much better than Wintergreen!! :P I moved to Denver last July, and I can literally count the number of crappy weather days on two hands. Its so friggin sunny here, it's fantastic!

yep

I actually thought about going to Wintergreen this past weekend Def and they had all of 1 run open! I'm actually looking for work in the mountain west as I figure I've got 10 "really good" years of skiing left and the rest will be just good I hope the TopFuels take this season to "REALLY REALLY GOOD

haha ya...

THough i a question has come up that i am really not sure about...The bases seem very soft like they have tons of marks and dings all over them and i have only been out a couple of times. This i don not like and the bases seem to dry out easily... though i have been skiing on mostly man made snow... anyone have any recommendations. Should i wax more get a tune up? And how should i go about doing this cause i plan 2 be skiing these skis for a good couple of years. And i aint that good with ski matientence in the sense i dont really know how to do it or what 2 do.

Any recommendations or help would be great!!!