The 2025 Nordica Santa Ana 102 is the widest and most freeride-ready offering in the Santa Ana lineup, built for women who want to charge hard across variable snow, soft conditions, and even deeper days. It’s powerful, damp, and remarkably stable—yet still manages to feel smooth and intuitive thanks to Nordica’s thoughtful construction and shaping.

At 102mm underfoot, this ski delivers legitimate float for powder days while maintaining enough versatility to stay playful and responsive on firmer snow. The Santa Ana 102 uses Nordica’s True Tip wood core combined with terrain-specific metal—a tapered sheet of Titanal that runs along the edges but not across the tips. This keeps the ski lively and reduces swing weight, while still offering a confidence-inspiring platform for edging and charging. The ski also features a carbon-reinforced layup, which further enhances its stability without adding unnecessary bulk.

Despite its freeride dimensions, the Santa Ana 102 is surprisingly smooth to turn. The rocker-camber-rocker profile allows for easy pivoting in tighter terrain, while the cambered section underfoot keeps things grounded when it’s time to carve. It’s particularly impressive in mixed and variable conditions where many lighter skis get kicked around. The Santa Ana stays composed and lets you keep your foot on the gas.

Compared to the Santa Ana 98, the 102 is more surfy and float-oriented, favoring a more relaxed, smeary turn shape in soft snow. Versus the Blizzard Sheeva 10 or Armada ARW 106 UL, the Santa Ana 102 offers a more powerful, directional ride that prioritizes stability over playfulness. It’s not quite as loose or freestyle-friendly, but it’s rock solid when you’re charging through crud or landing big drops in uneven terrain.

Nordica hasn’t made major changes for the 2025 model year, sticking with what works: a balanced flex profile, lightweight feel in the tips, and the metal where it counts. That consistency is what makes the Santa Ana 102 such a favorite among advanced and expert skiers looking for something that can truly handle the whole mountain—but with a bias toward speed and performance in soft snow.

If you’re an aggressive skier who loves off-piste terrain, bowls, trees, and chopped-up leftovers, the Santa Ana 102 is a reliable, powerful ride that won’t back down. It’s the kind of ski that makes big-mountain skiing feel a little more effortless—and a lot more fun.