Video Transcript

My name's Leo and I'm a curated.com Ski Expert and today we're talking about the Nordica Enforcer 88 versus the K2 Mindbender 89Ti. Both of these are skis that are going to excel all mountain, but they are more of a 70% groomer frontside oriented ski versus 30% off piece. This is thanks to their narrower waist widths that are designed more for quick edge to edge control and navigation through tight spaces. They may be a little bit more suited for East Coast or hard pack conditions, but they are designed to help skiers at a very high level. These are advanced to expert level skis, though high-level intermediates, especially heavier and more powerful ones, can also find these accessible in a lot of ways.

Nordica Enforcer 88 Skis

Let's dive in with the Enforcer 88, which is part of the very legendary, highly regarded series by Nordica. It combines a stiff performance profile, thanks to the two sheets of metal in the core, along with a more playful shape, thanks to the rocker tip and tail. In this model, the 88 being a little bit more frontside oriented, has a little less rocker than some of its other predecessors. It has a very long effective camber underfoot. So when you step on the ski, it really bites down in the snow and gives you great grip. But thanks to this really nice exaggerated rocker profile in the front, it helps with an easy early turn initiation. It sails over crud and even does pretty decently in soft snow considering its waist width, thanks to the shape. You can see it's not really burly, with vertical sidewalls and some really cool graphics to boot, which is always just a really nice feature overall.

If you are an advanced to expert level skier who is looking for a powerful front side carver that has quick edging but still enough surface area for all mountain skiing, this is a really great option.

K2 Mindbender 89Ti Skis

But if we jump over here to the K2 Mindbender 89Ti, this is one of my personal favorites in this category. I actually own this ski because it's got a really unique build with this Y shape sheet of metal in the core. This is actually something we're starting to see more and more brands do, but K2 really kind of redefined metal layups in the ski by creating this Y shape.

When you transfer your power edge-to-edge, you really kind of feel it, but it keeps the swing weight of the tips and tail lightweight by cutting that metal out. It's got a really nice shape inside cut too. If you see it from the back, it's got this just beautiful profile in terms of a side cut with plenty of surface area in these shovel tips that actually handles soft snow decently well. When I look at these in my shed and I have these 89s next to a pair of 96 skis, the tip shapes are almost the same size. So when we talk about handling crud and variable snow and a variety of conditions, this does extremely well for that reason.

It's a really great carving ski. When you put pressure on the front, it actually really kind of lets you know that, but it doesn't punish you. It just kind of reminds you to get back on the front side of the ski. So I feel like this ski has actually really made me a better skier in a lot of ways. The feedback and the intuition that I get from it is just really outstanding. I'm a big fan of this ski.

Similarities and Differences

Both of these options are really good from east to west for people who are looking for that grippy frontside carver that still takes us anywhere all mountain and still makes a solid one ski daily driver for a lot of people.

There are tons of more details we could dive into here, but here at Curated, it's really all about you. So jump into the chat and chat with your expert. We would love to understand who you are, what you're comfortable with, and what you want to do better so we can get you into the perfect ski just for you.

Comparison Table