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  1. #1
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    Sep 2005
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    Nordica supercharger blower review

    Just skied my 1st day on the SBers. Deep powder in tight trees with 10ft+ drops interspersed.

    Me: 6'2", 180ish lbs fairly aggressive and enthusiastic skier

    Previous skis: 188 G4s, 192 Elan 777s, 180 Powder Pluses

    For those that haven't seen 'em, the blowers are 193cm, 139-110-129, 29m radius. Progressive edium stiffness with a stiff flex underfoot. Metal wood metal sandwich and vertical sidewalls. Awesome amatuer powder plus reminiscent graphics. Yes my friends, these skis are bohemoths.

    After 1 run I was in love with these skis. Anyone who knows me knows I was really into the Elan 777s. Torsionally very stiff but with that nice medium flex so you can crank wide, wide turns in deep powder. These are a very similar ski with a lot of extra width. They are very easy to ski for their size, damp, fun yet SUPER stable at speed. Hucking into tight trees they inspired confidence, easy to read and predictable in all situations. They are hands down the best ski I've ever skied. I'd recomend them to anyone who wants a solid, stable yet fun and forgiving ski (land front seat, they bounce back, even at mach looney speeds). They aren't a replacement for the powder plus or w105 skiers out there due to there lesser flex, but tthey're no less beefy, just a little more modern .

    In conclusion, I'm taking them to bed tonight, they are sexy.

  2. #2
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    Sep 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by Highway Star
    Are you 100% sure they have metal in them? 2 sheets? Top: can you see the metal beneath the topsheet on the side? Bottom: above the edge or at the tip?

    Initial reports were saying no metal. A 193 with those dimensions in a full metal sandwich constructions would be pretty heavy...
    Of course I'm sure, the metal stands out fairly heavily from the white sidewall , unless they've used a rad metalic paint for 2 colourful strips . The metal layers are quite thick too. Yes they are heavy, and with sallys and trekkers make for a heavy touring setup which I will be taking for a rip in about 4 hrs from now. Don't trust initial reports, they also said no twin, beleive me this thing throws rooster tails like Gotamas with a small, but sudden twin.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    SF, CA
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    821
    Quote Originally Posted by addict
    Of course I'm sure, the metal stands out fairly heavily from the white sidewall , unless they've used a rad metalic paint for 2 colourful strips . The metal layers are quite thick too.
    Would make sense. That's the way they built the ultrawaves/w105s and the whole current supercharger line. They're damn good at it too. My MFs may be the best rock ski ever.

  4. #4
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    Sep 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by Highway Star
    Thanks for the confirmation.....time to go get some 185's.
    I don't know your size, but they're pretty playful for a serious ski. At 193 I've found them solid and easy even when I'm exhausted. Oh, yeah, and after day 2, still an awesome ski.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Colorado
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    858
    Nice review.

    Have you been on Gotamas. Any comparison?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    Calgary/Fernie
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    I am 6' and 160 lbs and I had my 185 blowers out in a foot of fresh on Friday. These skis kill it in the deep. Super stable and have mad float (turn a lot of heads in the lift line too)! Wood and metal sanwich race construction rules!

    After the hill was tracked these things continued to charge hard through the crud and junk. Super G turns at mach 2 is what they want and nothin seems to get in their way.

    At the end of the day we blasted a couple of soft groomers and these things held way better than I would have ever thought.

    All in all the best ski I have ever been on.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Near Perimetr.
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    Quote Originally Posted by BigLineSeeker
    I am 6' and 160 lbs and I had my 185 blowers out in a foot of fresh on Friday. These skis kill it in the deep. Super stable and have mad float (turn a lot of heads in the lift line too)! Wood and metal sanwich race construction rules!


    All in all the best ski I have ever been on.
    Have you(or anyone) skied im.103s, how do the sticks compare?

    Seems like the construction is very similar?


    These could be a decent replacment for 103s,since they seem to deconstruct quite easily.

    The floggings will continue until morale improves.

  8. #8
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    Sep 2005
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    I haven't skied the 103s (I wish), but but the blowers flex a lot softer in the tip and tail. Still very stable and very stiff under foot, with good torsional stiffness throughout. I don't think they'd be any less stable than the 103s, but would feel a lot different to ski. So maybe not a direct replacement, but an alternative. Oh, and I agree with their crud busting ability. These things just don't baulk at anything. I hucked a 10-15fter (yes you can touch me) into steep, cruddy bumps yesterday (big off the cliff on blast at WH20 if you know it) with VERY tired legs and a muscle strain. Super sloppy backseat landing and I just bounced up and rode the cadillac down. Lots of things like that seem to happen, frontseat or backseat mistakes don't seem to matter too much. Also you can sidle up to people in the lift line and say: "Nice girly skis, are you thinking of selling them, my little sister needs a pair [arnie voice]" and get away with it. Even to 190 explosive wearers.


    to summarise: I want to marry these skis but am not sure if it's legal.

  9. #9
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    Dec 2005
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    The other big difference between these skis is their sidecuts. I think the 103s are about 125 in the tip (~34 m radius in a 183) and the blowers are 139 (26 m radius in a 185). The Nordicas are pretty easy to initiate, where from what I have heard, the monsters are definitely not.

  10. #10
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    Oct 2005
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    Sandy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Meathelmet
    These could be a decent replacment for 103s,since they seem to deconstruct quite easily.
    Slight thread hijack here, but I've noticed alot of people busting their 103's - are the 103's poorly built - or is it just b/c they get skied really hard just fall apart fast?
    Last edited by sfotex; 01-15-2006 at 09:43 PM.
    When life gives you haters, make haterade.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
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    127
    I don't think they'd be any less stable than the 103s
    Wrong. I personally like the blowers better in the soft stuff- less tip dive and more all-round float. But they're no where nears the 103's when it comes to stability. To be succinct for all y'all out there who keep comparing xyz sticks to 103's (in 193)- nuttin' out there other than pro models or iggies really approach the stiffness/stability of the heads- and this is coming from xsomeone who ski's 201 'roids as daily boards.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
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    Le Lavancher pour le weekend
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    3,337

    185 blower review

    me- 5'10" 165 lbs, decent skier, not ridiculous
    mount- 997s on the ride line on the topsheet
    skis i like- 180 explosiv, 188 gun lab, 188 wailer 105
    conditions- heavy concrete and tight on saturday, perfect bluebird pow sunday
    these are first gen w/ the big twin

    awaiting my wailer replacements so saw these for only 200 euros and needed a bigger ski to bridge the gap. gun labs are fun, but more center mounted and not really a pure pow ski, they're stiff up front and soft in the tail where these are soft upfront and stiff in the tail. huge camber on the gun labs, these are somewhere inbetween the wailers and the labs.

    saturday was mid station and down on the midi which involved knee breaking snot pow and then hacking through forest. not exactly the best maiden voyage but they dealt ok with the heavy snow but were a touch hooky sometimes, but nothing horrific. in tight places i wasn't used to them enough to be super comfortable, but they did the job as good as any other 110 waisted ski.

    sunday was a different story, half a meter of lighter fresh on top of the day before, perfect bluebird, wide open terrain. these ruled those conditions, loved swooping big gs powder turns but were still very manageable in tight places as long as the snow was softish. people have knocked their crud ability, but in cut up stuff i thought they actually did pretty good with the big tips absorbing pretty well and stiffness underfoot doing the job. i wouldn't bring these out on any sort of hard snow, but that's not what they're for. on groomers they take a long time to engage the edge, but are stable at speed and happy railing gs turns. anything less is just a waste of time.

    i'm not bowled over by these, but they're very user friendly and a great soft snow ski. you can get them for 200 euros on french ebay and definitely worth it if you have spot in the quiver to fill. i find the twin annoying when bushwacking tho and am thinking of cutting it off, but didn't find it as hooky as people mentioned, but then again i'm not a huge str8liner. took them off some 10-20 foot drops and as mentioned, they're not a great air ski especially where i mounted them, gun labs are way better for that, but it's doable.
    'waxman is correct, and so far with 40+ days of tasting them there is no way my tongue can tell the difference between wood, and plastic made to taste like wood...but i'm a weirdo and lick my gear...' -kidwoo

  13. #13
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    Apr 2003
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    Quote Originally Posted by ulty_guy View Post
    i find the twin annoying when bushwacking tho and am thinking of cutting it off, but didn't find it as hooky as people mentioned,
    This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that skiing from the Midi midstation down can just be a heinous bushwacking experience no matter skis you are on?

    If you don't nail the route or the snow is a bit low it can be so fricken annoying I don't know why anyone would do laps on it. Now if its after a Glacier Rond, as we did it, I could tolerate the bad for the good, but woof it wasn't fun.

    Thanks for the reviews.
    He who has the most fun wins!

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