Nordica Enforcer Alpine Ski

Just spent the day demoing some 185 Enforcers, and ended up buying them.

I'm 6'1 190lbs, and I thought the 185s were a bit much to lug through the trees in the heavier powder so I went with the 177s, hopefully I won't be giving up anything on the groomers.

The 185s ripped it on the groomers, and I was pretty surprised how easy it was to keep the tips up in the powder.

Its going to be tough for me to sneak out again before the end if the season, so I might have to wait till next year :-( 

Update - picked up MY skis (not demo) and skied them two days now - they float in slush like a dream and ski hardpack beautifully.  My only complaint is on the hardpack spring morning ice - stable but I get way to much speed at 6'2" 230 lbs - on 185's - not really the skis fault but that was the least fun part of the skis.  Lower part of the mountain on my way had me thinking I was a freestyle guru in the slush ... looked like a pro and they skied like a dream.  I'm looking forward to trying some powder and softpack next season - 

Anyone have a recommendation for a narrower all mountain carver that I can use in the bumps if I want?

Did a demo last weekend - was one of the most fun I've had with my clothes on in years.   Skied through spring crud and ice and slush and all.  Carved well, held an edge, responsive from turn to turn, fast and stable.   I may actually paint over the graphics with model primer - had they been more "socially acceptable" they would probably have all been sold out like the volkl mantra.   These skis were fun, forgiving, with a huge sweet spot - can't wait to get on them this weekend.

A small bit about myself first.

Me: 21 y/o, male, level 8 skier, 5' 10", 180 lbs, get out about 10 to 15 days a year in the past, this year I've done about 20 ski days, and have about 7 more planned.

Boots: Salomon something from a couple years ago

Ski: Nordica Enforcer 08/09 version in 177cm with the Nordica bindings N-Power 2S DIN 6-14

I was at Lake Louise yesterday in the west canadian rockies. They'd had 5+ cm of fresh snow in the last 24hr and I took out these new Enforcers to see how they are. My other skis are a set of 07/08 Volkl AC30.  I like the AC30s a lot, they have great edgehold and stability, but I was experiencing tip dive in powder snow and also wanted to have something that is not as stiff. I actually took out the AC30s on Saturday to a resort where it's man-made snow and groomed and they were great.  For a day like sunday though, the Enforcers seemed more suitable with their 98mm waist width.

Some tidbit about my skiing ability. I mostly ski black runs. Depending on the resort, black runs may be harder or easier. I don't ski particularly using an exact technique, I just do what I know.  I can carve alright on certain runs.  If I'm on a run that's steep, or is steep and trees, or moguls or steep and powder snow, I try to get in a rhythm to turn on the slope. I always strive to stay in "neutral" position on the skis, with my shoulders over my knees. I sometimes get in the backseat a bit if I'm on a really steep run, but I'm actively trying to improve this.  I've been skiing for roughly 14 to 15 years now and I do just about everything from the mileage I've gotten with skiing.

Now on to the actual review of the skis. I skied this mostly in a small amount of cut up powder, I tried to find as much as I could by skiing in some trees. It was a good day as far as I'm concerned, I'm not usually lucky enough to even find 5cm of fresh snow, and it snowed while I was there too, so that was pretty nice. I'm not skilled enough or knowledgeable enough to give an in-depth review of the skis, but I will say that they felt much better in powder than my AC30s. They seemed to magically stay on top of the powder snow rather than dive in deep and I was able to get into a nice rythm on the steep parts on top of the powder which I have not been able to do with my AC30s.  They took less effort to control also in powder versus the stiffer AC30s.  At 177, they still felt quite turny (which I like).  On the groomed runs or the runs with very small powder, they carved very well.  For me, they felt as good as the Volkl's in terms of control and stability and carving.  They were less punishing as well.  You can feel that extra stiffness and edgehold on the Volkl's and also since the Volkls are shorter and narrower. However, I thought the Enforcer did fine on the groomed runs. It performed better than I was expecting and I can see the Nordica becoming the main ski I will be using. I actually plan on letting my dad using my Volkls when I ski with him since he mostly does the more groomed runs.

For those knowledgeable of Lake Louise, I took them out on the backside on Whitehorn Bowl and also Boomerang Bowl from the T-Bar at the summit, also that black run that goes parallel to the T-Bar on the frontside and the trees around the T-Bar. As well, the moguls on the bowl under Paradise chair, as well as the trees to the left and to the right of paradise chair.

Overall, I give this ski a 4.5/5. I can see how an even wider ski would be even better on powder, but for the type of conditions that I usually ski in, I really like this ski and it did exactly what I wanted it to do. Give me control, stability and softness on the powder snow and give me carving and edgehold on groomed snow while not being too stiff feeling.