Nordica Astral 84
2018 Value Ski

The new Astral 84 boasts a bad-ass blunt-nose tip, a powerful flat tail, lightweight balsa core, and a sheet of vibration-damping metal with hexagons punched out to reduce weight. Experts who spend most of their time arcing on groomed can push it with all they’ve got, yet it’s forgiving enough to coax anyone into nice, clean arcs. “Confidence instilling,” Barnes said.