This year´s Nordica Race range has everything you might expect from a well known manufacturer. Although the brand wants us to believe they´ve got a lot more skis than they are really offering. The whole Race range is divided into three sections: Pro, Expert and Intermediate. Every ski maker chooses to classify their products in the way they believe users will understand the easiest. Nordica has gone one step further and these three sections will help users to make a better decision when they point to the Nordica´s Race range.

Let´s take a look at the three sections of the whole range:

Pro

• Nordica Dobermann Spitfire EDT-N Pro Evo

• Nordica Dobermann GS WC Plate

• Nordica Dobermann SL WC Plate

Well, this one is pretty straight forward. The last two are the FIS compliant skis for GS and SL skis from Nordica, plus the Spitfire EDT-N Pro Evo which no one really knows why is it here. It does not follow any FIS rule and while it seems to be a ski between the GS and SL soft line, it could well be an On-Piste regular ski with no other purpose than being an overall ski.

Having said this, the general public should avoid the GS and the SL models since they are only focused to competition, and I mean real competition. So those without a racing license go look somewhere else, you´ll waste time and money in an unthinkable manner if you go for these ones.

Expert

• Nordica Dobermann GSR EDT-N Power Evo

• Nordica Dobermann GSR EDT-N Pro Evo

• Nordica Dobermann SLR-N Power Evo

• Nordica Dobermann SLR-N Pro Evo

• Nordica Dobermann Spitfire Pro-N Pro P.R.Evo

If you start counting, you will see we have five skis here. Well… nope. Nordica is offering three skis here, not five. There is a very good reason for that tiny little difference in the names. The only difference in the first two is the words Power and Pro. The same happens between the third and fourth models. The fifth is a different animal by its own rights. So… what is the difference between the Power model and the Pro one? Well… in short, it´s the same ski but different binding. Just that.

The Nordica Dobermann GSR EDT-N Power / Pro Evo is basically a friendly Giant Slalom ski for the masses. That said, this is a ski for expert skiers, so only those with a refined technique and many runs in their legs will be able to truly enjoy it. The same can be said for the Nordica Dobermann SLR-N Power / Pro Evo, but instead of being a Giant Slalom inspired ski, this takes the spirit from the Slalom discipline and brings it to you a bit softened for your full enjoyment.

The Nordica Spitfire Pro-N Pro P.R Evo is a ski with a very stupid name full of letters no one will ever remember. But yes, the spitfire thing is good. It is an overall ski with no compromise between long turns or short turns. As many others, it is left in no one´s land. A good choice for those who don´t want the drawbacks from the GS or the SL styles and like to play a bit of everything at will.

Intermediate

• Nordica Dobermann Spitfire TI-N Pro P.R.Evo

• Nordica Dobermann Spitfire CA-N ADV P.R.Evo

You will see four models in Nordica´s website. But no, there are just two. You can choose between colour lines in the Spitfire CA-N ADV P.R.Evo. And the difference between the Spitfire TI-N Pro P.R.Evo and its brother with the RTL added at the end of the name in the website´s url is just known in Nordica.

Aside from useless names, what are these two? Well, they are two all round On-Piste skis with a racing touch. One might think they are not very different from the On Piste offering from Nordica. Such an idea is not very right. Just take a look at their tails. Racing skis have always sharper tails, not roundy ones. The former being for skiers who carve their turns in a clean arch, the latter for skiers who don´t.

We haven´t dealed with anything related to Nordica´s technologies yet, and they got such a wide set in the Nordica Race range. Let´s take a look at them:

Disclaimer: Not all Nordica Race models share the same technologies. This is just a list of all the technologies used in each category. You may find skis that do no use all of them.

Pro

• Energy 2 Titanium: Ever heard about titanium layers inside the skis? Yes, almost every single race ski in the market has some. So nothing new here. However, we should be thankful for the Nordica´s picture, since there we will really see how those skis are built. And yes, it´s different from the schema found in the Expert or Intermediate. So again, good and real information.

• Comp 20.0 EPS / Comp 16.0 EPS: These are the binding systems to choose from. And guess what those numbers mean. They indicate the binding´s DIN. So, as you can understand from those numbers, these skis are only for real racers, not expert skiers nor even ski instructors.

• Piston Plate: A real racing plate. Four subjection points, two of them being floating screws to allow free ski flex. Marker is the manufacturer, so as it´s been shown in other brands it has also a step underneath its back. It then leaves an empty space between itsef and the ski. This leaves room for the ski to freely bend when pushed hard. The only problem with this plate is the piston. Useless, silly and ugly. Please Nordica, take that off!

• EVO R CT EDT GF: Who on earth thought about this name? For God´s sake, just fire the guy!

  Now… what is this. This is related to the binding, plate and “arm” system. Yes, if one brand makes one step into one direction the other seem to have the need to follow it although it´s nonsense. So again, this is a copy of the Atomic´s Doubledeck. Is it Nordica´s interpretation really useful? Not really. If it really was, why is that you don´t see it on the GS or SL FIS models? Simple answer: because it doesn´t do anything more than pretending it does. More placebo for the masses.

• Frontside Camrock – Rapid Race Profile: A fancy name for the traditional camber. And yes, it has also the rocker word at its tip. Why? Modern days, modern words.

Expert

• EDT (Efficient Dynamic Technology): I will save you the pain to read all the crap and I´ll only mention the bit that really matters from Nordica´s own explanation: “…We accomplish this by securing a specially designed carbon alloy plate to the ski at reinforced attachment points to greatly reduce unwanted ski torsion.”

  This EDT thing seems to be directly related to the EVO R CT EDT GF. But their explanation does not satisfy anyone´s needs. That layer looks like carbon, but… is it really made from carbon? And what does really offer a good torsion resistance? A carbon plate on the ski´s surface that does not cover the entire ski (just the 65% of it) or a good epoxy “welding” all the inner bits? Plastic crap speaks for itself, even with a fancy name.

• Evo Energy 2 Titanium: This technology is just the titanium layers in the skis construction. See the picture for real and good information about how these skis are built.

• Frontside Camrock – Rapid Race Profile: A fancy name for the traditional camber. And yes, it also has the rocker word at its tip. Why? Modern days, modern words.

• EVO R CT EDT: More shitty plastic with a plastic name. Or was it a shitty name with a plastic shit onto the ski? Ok, I´ve got it now. In one word: Plastic. For more detailed info about plastic read what´s been explained above about the EVO R CT EDT GF technology.

• EVO R CT: The real plate without the unneeded plastic (read carbon). It´s got rails in order to make the binding adjustment operation easier. It also has some cuts in the central part to facilitate the ski flex so the plastic doesn´t break. So a decent plate, designed with care and intelligence.

Intermediate

• Frontside Camrock. Moderate Race Profile: A bigger tip in order to facilitate the beginning of the turns. And a tighter body to make things easier. That´s the idea behind that picture with an SL tip and a GS body. There is a big tip and a not very steep sidecut. But does this deserve a technology name on its own? Not really.

• Evo Energy TI: It´s all about the construction method. Aside from having less wood in its inner core and only one sheet of metal, it is this last layer the one that is different from other models. It´s drilled everywhere so it is more prone to be easily bent, and at the same time it allows epoxy to spread everywhere and make a stronger connection between all the components. This time it is spring steel, not titanium.

• Evo Energy CA: As mentioned above, this is again about the construction method. The inner metal layer (spring steel, not titanium) is not drilled as before. It also has one less layer of fiberglass. And that makes the skis made using this method less livelier and easier to handle.

• Evo CT: Same thing as the Evo R CT found in the Expert category but with one less letter. What did you expect?

by Albert Valbuena - English