2025 Ski of the Year
Here they are, Fall Line’s ever-coveted ski of the year for this winter. Smart tech, max fun!
2025 Woman’s ski of the year
NORDICA
SANTA ANA 92
£570 without bindings
Lengths:
150, 155, 161, 167, 173, 179cm
Radius:
16.0m @ 161cm
Dimensions:
122-92-110mm
Weight per ski:
1,840g without binding (no stated size)
THEY SAY
Fall in love with skiing all over again with Nordica’s Santa Ana 92. A favourite among skiers who spend most of their time on trails, this all-mountain ski offers tremendous versatility and no shortage of confidence, with an especially smooth and stable ride.
WE SAY
It’s a tough ask to improve on something with a bit of an iconic status, but Nordica’s worked their magic on the new Santa Anas. The 92 is a ton of fun, allowing you to take on the entire mountain and a plethora of conditions. The beautifully smooth flex of the new Pulse Core is a delight.
OVERVIEW
You may already know the Santa Ana name, but the whole family is new for this season, along with the men’s Enforcer range. They still bring that freeride feel, yet deliver stellar performance on hardpacked snow (and boy, was it hardpacked in La Clusaz at times).
The skis use the new Pulse Core construction, and Nordica has tweaked the rocker profile to further enhance how the skis feed into the turn.
SPEC
The Santa Ana 92 has a beech and poplar wood core, with a layer of metal and elastomer sitting between the top and bottom halves of the core. This mid-way lamination to the wood core construction is referred to as Pulse Core, inspired by the Double Core approach seen in many of their other ski lines.
Nordica has changed the profile of the Santa Anas too, reducing the rocker slightly and dropping the tip height to improve engagement into the turn. Sidewall construction again helps deliver the surprisingly positive performance on firmer snow. These are flat deck skis, so you can pick whichever flat-mount binding you want to put on them.
PERFORMANCE
If you want to ski most of your time on firm snow, the Santa Ana 87 is arguably the better choice, and it’s still eminently usable when you’re heading off the sides. The 92 is a perfect 50/50 ski and a true all-mountain slayer. It’s planted and composed in variable, challenging conditions away from the groomers.
If deep powder is your thing, then the wider 97 or 102 would be ideal. The 97 is the most powerful of the family, although these wider skis are not readily available in the UK.
We’ve skied all the new Santa Ana skis, so have a good handle on which models are best for different scenarios, and the 92 is equally impressive on and off-piste. That’s precisely why the 92 sits at the top of the All-Mountain podium this season.
After blasting about the La Clusaz landscape, Nicola said:
“The classic Santa Ana feel, dialled up. It was super smooth to ski, with great edge hold, and on chattery snow it felt balanced and stable. You get a ski that is so easy to manoeuvre and drive through all turn shapes. It handles well off-piste, tackling chop/pow/crud with precision. Although, it’s not a ski for blasting through the powder at speed.”
Freeride charger Amy commented:
“A very obliging all-mountain ski with a freeride bent. A best mate for women who want a wider platform capable of skiing the whole mountain. You can still drive through the tip and the Santa Ana 92 can be skied hard, yet it is accessible for intermediates.”
As it’s flat mount, you could even put a freeride touring binding on it, although be aware it’s not the lightest ski for this. With this mass comes stability and a planted feel, which can both be benefits for firmer or variable snow.
BEST FOR
The Santa Ana 92 is a cracking choice for skiers who want one ski to do it all in the downhill arena.
The sweet spot is intermediate and advanced-level female skiers, and experts will also get on superbly well with it. It was also loved by male testers, so just because it’s a ‘women’s’ ski, don’t let that prevent your male friends from trying them out or buying them.
2025 Men’s ski of the year
VÖLKL
M7 MANTRA
£750 without bindings
Lengths:
163, 170, 177, 184, 191cm
Radius:
16.8m* @ 177cm
Dimensions:
139-96-121mm
Weight per ski:
2,090g @ 177cm without binding
THEY SAY
How do you improve a legend? You retain the features that made the ski famous and add the latest innovations, such as the new 4 Radius Drive sidecut technology, which allows progress where a year ago you couldn’t see any room to further push your limits.
WE SAY
Think of the M6 Mantra but with even greater versatility and an extra helping of fun. As a true one-ski quiver for downhill skiing, this is a sensational ski.
OVERVIEW
The M6 Mantra was the best Mantra to date, but the team at Völkl has significantly improved on it with this new M7.
The Katana, Kendo, and Kanjo have been renamed as Mantra skis, but they’ve not technically changed, nor has the 102, so it’s the M7 you really want to get your mitts on. (The Katana V.Werks doesn’t change its name this season.) It’s the same story with the women’s Secret skis, with only the 96 getting these updates, and that’s earned an Editors’ Choice award.
Völkl’s not just focused on skiing performance. They source wood for the cores of their skis (except paulownia) from within an hour of their factory. The Isocore synthetic material uses recycled plastics, most of the power for their factory comes from hydro, and waste core wood chips are used in their heating processes.
SPEC
The new 4 Radius Drive design incorporates four different radius figures depending on the location along the ski, rather than the three from last season. *We’ve simply given the radius of the ski underfoot, but the performance section explains how the ski behaves.
You still benefit from the Tailored Titanal Frame, complementing the wood core, where each ski length has specific lengths of wide and narrow metal elements to ensure consistent flex and feel across sizes. Völkl has also further refined the carbon arrangement in the tip.
PERFORMANCE
We were blown away by the performance.
Rich said:
“Wow, what a ski. It charges through the crud and soft choppy snow off-piste. Yet, when you hit the piste, it grabs the edge on the hardpacked groomed stuff and grips as if you’re on rails. It oozes confidence wherever you are, whatever speed, terrain, or type of turn you’re doing. My legs were telling me to stop, my head was telling me to slow down, and my heart was making me carry on, as it’s such fun. When my legs eventually gave in, and I needed a break, I could ease off and cruise at lower speeds. It’s an all-mountain ski that is as close to a one-ski quiver as you’ll ever get.”
Chrigl added:
“A true wolf in sheep’s clothing. A Jekyll and Hyde – pick your metaphor. How can something so pivotable at mellow speeds, loose-feeling even, carve as hard on ice as it does? It is a fantastic option for all-mountain chargers, but doesn’t need to be thrashed to get something out of it. Another Völkl ski that just loves to turn. At my lofty 188cm, the 177cm could handle everything I could throw at it on the hardpack. I’d only size up for soft-snow applications.”
Al shared:
“The M7 has superb damping and is incredibly smooth. It felt composed, confident, and stable, with a beautiful flex throughout the length of the ski. This is the most accessible Mantra to date, and it is stunning.”
BEST FOR
The performance is far more accessible than its predecessors, so confident intermediates could easily have a fab time on this M7. Advanced and expert-level skiers with goals to ski off-piste as much as possible—tempered with the reality that a lot of time is still spent skiing the groomers—will love this ski.
