Nordica Santa Ana 98 Review

The Nordica Santa Ana 98 performs well in all terrain and snow conditions. The only downside we found was its slight lack of playfulness and rebound. It provides a confidence-inducing ride for skiers of all ability levels — a quality difficult to find in women's all-mountain skis. Most skis are either too stiff for smaller or lower-level skiers to bend or too soft for experts or larger women to feel secure. The Santa Ana 98 is a "Goldilocks ski" in this regard. Somehow Nordica managed to make it just right for most people.

Performance Comparison

Stability at Speed

A quality companion for those who like to ski fast, the Nordica Santa Ana 98 feels far more stable than one might expect for having such a wide waist and rockered tip and tail. Nordica has removed some heavy plastic from the ski's tip and replaced it with an extension of the lightweight wood core. It seems that they have achieved their goal here: the tip does not flop around at higher speeds, but the ski remains agile.

We noticed that the ski felt slightly less stable in a shorter turn. This reaction was surprising given its 16.3-meter radius. Once we opened up the speed and the turn size, the ski came into its own, feeling steadier in a larger high-speed turn.

Weight

At 8.1 pounds per pair (unmounted), the Santa Ana 98 is – as our "Goldilocks" assessment suggests – just right. This wood and metal laminate ski is neither too heavy nor too lightweight and offers the perfect balance of stability and agility.

We felt some chatter in the steeps on very firm, spring morning snow, but it would have been difficult to find an all-mountain ski that would not have in that setting. Overall, the Santa Ana 98 feels like a strong, stiff ski underfoot that will easily carry its momentum over most snow conditions.

Carving Ability

The Santa Ana 98 is a wide ski for this task, yet it performs it with relative ease. It moves quickly from one edge to the other, much smoother than might be guessed given its width. The carbon fiber integrated into the wood core helps lighten and energize the naturally damp material.

This ski is not too difficult to flex, but it doesn't offer nearly as much rebound as marketing materials suggest. We just didn't feel it propel us back in the other direction when we finished our turn. For making a medium radius, cleanly cut carved turn, the Santa Ana is more than capable.

Turn Radius

We did not feel like the Santa Ana 98 turned true to its 16.3-meter radius – it wanted to make a slightly larger turn, perhaps closer to 17.5 meters. It is tough to put an exact number to our best guesstimate, but this ski certainly does not pivot as easily as other skis with a 16-meter radius.

When we aimed for this larger turn, both skis tracked effortlessly. If we tried to arc a shorter turn, occasionally, we weren't leaving perfectly clean tracks. Not quite as perfectly carvable as our top pick for cutting up groomers, the Santa Ana 98 is still able to hold its own against much more narrow skis.

Powder Performance

Once again, the Santa Ana 98 made us feel confident and secure skiing powder. It stays mostly afloat in deeper snow, and when it isn't quite on the surface, it still manages to feel maneuverable from just beneath the surface. In both heavier and lighter fresh snow, the Nordica felt reliable and kept us moving.

The manufacturer discusses using "terrain-specific metal" in their line of skis. This design puts more metal in their narrower skis for greater stability on groomed terrain while putting less metal in the wider skis to allow for more fun in softer snow. We felt the combination they blended into the 98-millimeter width was about perfect; it had enough strength to handle well on-piste while having enough lightness to feel fun off-piste.

Waist Width

The Santa Ana 98 is fairly fat, at 98 millimeters underfoot, but it isn't a life raft. The 30% tip rocker allows the front of the ski to maintain a close connection to the surface, bringing us back up to breathe between turns.

This ski is far from the widest option in the field of skis we tested. Understandably, other models make better powder-specific skis. But the beauty of the Santa Ana 98 is its ability to navigate deep conditions despite a waist width of under 100 millimeters, which makes it a versatile ski regardless of the weather forecast.

Crud Performance

Chopped-up, day-old powder is where the Nordica Santa Ana 98 is boss. This ski can handle crud in any manner you prefer to ski it; it can blast through with force as easily as it can pop airborne and avoid the worst of the chunks. We loved the feeling of setting this ski on a course through a minefield and not feeling a single bounce as we cruised.

The carbon chassis Nordica uses in this ski seems to find the perfect balance in choppy snow; it is stiff enough to simply plow through it while also being flexible enough to bend into it when you need or spring up if you want.

Terrain Playfulness

There is not a very pronounced or consistent rebound on this ski. However, the confidence it inspired in our skiing made it feel playful, even if the Santa Ana 98 didn't exude this characteristic.

The Santa Ana 98 is easy to turn and carve and is stable at high speeds and a crud-crusher. Knowing we could take this ski anywhere and feel surefooted gave us a certain joy. It is light enough to get airborne easily and is reassuring to land on afterward.

Bumps

For such a wide ski, we were impressed by the Santa Ana's agility in a mogul field. Despite feeling like it preferred making a longer turn, it seemed perfectly happy making quick and agile turns when our skiing involved bumps.

Even some of our smallest testers enjoyed the Santa Ana in this terrain, commenting that it felt easy to bend, initiate a turn, and maneuver through the bumps.

Should You Buy the Santa Ana 98?

Suppose you're in the market for a single ski that can take you into all types of terrain, handle a variety of snow conditions, and still confidently rip groomers at speed. In that case, you are looking for the versatility that only the Nordica Santa Ana 98 can offer. We were quite impressed by how this ski catered to various audiences – both our expert level and less experienced testers loved the confidence this ski inspired. Approachable and easy to manage for intermediates, yet stiff and strong enough for hard-charging women, a general "wow-factor" defines the Santa Ana 98.

What Other Women's All-Mountain Skis Should You Consider?

The Nordica Santa Ana 98 scored consistently high marks across the board, but other skis still excel in particular disciplines. The Elan Ripstick 94 W is much more playful in powder, as is the Icelantic Riveter 95 in the bumps. Even though this ski is a strong and stable carving ski, we had more fun cutting up groomers on the Blizzard Black Pearl 88.