Review: Nordica Enforcer 104 Free

I was lucky enough to get on a pair for several weeks in variety of conditions at the end of last season. The Enforcer 100 and 110 are great skis in a variety of conditions, so I was excited to see if the Nordica Enforcer Free 104 would live up to their marketing. 

I'm about 6' and 170lbs and tested the 186 length, which I found to be perfect. There's quite a bit of tip and tail rocker, so they'll ski a bit short and with a low swing weight I found that they're easy to quickly pivot and smear. 

Stats:

Tip / Waist / Tail (In Millimeters) 135/104/124

Lengths (In Centimeters) 165, 172, 186, 191

Radius (In Meters) 18.5

Testing conditions included: 

- Cat Skiing in British Columbia

- knee-deep pow in the trees at RED Resort

- soft conditions with some deeper spots at Whitewater

- Steep, skied out laps on Mary Jane at Winter Park

Powder

At 104 underfoot, you can't call the Free's a true "pow" ski, but dang, they float well for their size. It's quite easy to initiate turns and carve your way through the powder (you don't quite get the full 'float' as you would on a true powder ski). It was quite playful in the amount of powder I had the chance to ski it in but in a few deeper spots I got the feeling that it might start to get overwhelmed. Which, for a ski of this width is totally reasonable. In the snow that I experienced, I never dealt with unexpected tip-diving.

Soft, variable snow

I think this is where the Enforcer Free 104 impressed me the most. At a little over 9lbs per pair, they absorbed crud, bumps and and patches of variable snow with ease. The second key word I would use for these skis besides "playful" would be "stable". It's not a ski that demands to be driven hard all the time or punishes you for lazy skiing. They seem to be just at home charging at full speed (with a speed limit I was unable to find), or popping of features and casually enjoying your way down the mountain.

Groomers

I don't really ask too much of a ski on groomers besides good edge-hold and hopefully the ability to initiate a variety of turn shapes without feeling awkward. While not living up to the spectacular groomer performance of the Enforcer 100, the Enforcer Free 104 was able to carve basically whatever I wanted. As I said earlier, these skis have a high speed limit that I wasn't able to reach, and the weight offered good stability at speed.

Moguls, Tight Trees

While not quite what this ski was designed to excel at, I found that the low swing weight and rocker served me well at a variety of speeds. Again, I think the heaviness/dampness was a boon in these kinds of conditions.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed my time on these skis. They make a good argument for being a decent quiver of one for Western skiers. The combination of stability and dampness with a solid amount of rocker and low swing weight make it a great candidate to attack the whole mountain in a variety of styles. While I've used the word "playful" several times, it's certainly not the most playful ski you could go with -- but I think that's counterbalanced by it's great stability and ability to turn up the speed. The 104 width feels versatile enough to serve you well in almost all snow depths. Overall, I'd highly recommend this ski for advanced skiers looking for a versatile, fun ski.

Check out the Nordica Enforcer 104's

Turns out I'm not the only one with this opinion -- they won SkiMag's "Best in Test".