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Nordica delivers elegantly effective improvement to the modern ski

By Marc Peruzzi
Popular Science

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(PopSci.com) -- You're rocketing down a groomed run in Vermont when a red squirrel darts in your path, forcing you to make a quick, unplanned turn.

Suddenly all your weight is on your heels, the tips of the skis are lifting off the snow, and you're riding your tails with precious little leverage to turn.

Worst case: You flail backward and -- pop! -- tear your anterior cruciate ligament; the squirrel buys the farm.

Take two: You're skiing the clever new X Balance System, a binding plate developed by the Italian ski company Nordica ($900-$1,150, depending on the ski; nordica.com).

Now when you get thrown back on your heels, one of two discrete cantilevered plates on each ski redirects the tail pressure toward the tips, ensuring that more of each edge stays grounded.

The result? Your boards continue to arc smoothly through the turn you initiated instead of shooting off-course. You regain your balance. The rodent lives.

Freedom of movement: As you flex the ski into a turn, in effect letting the toe and heel pieces of the binding float instead of creating a flat spot at the waist of the ski.

The secret spot: Two fiberglass-reinforced plastic cantilevered to form the "X" in X Balance.

Crossover appeal: One plate is mounted four inches in front of the toe and extends rearward to support the heel part of the binding; the free end slides fore and aft on aluminum rails as your weight shifts and the ski flexes. as a diving board: As you load the free end, pressure builds at the mounted end. The toe plate is mounted behind the heel and does just the opposite, helping to keep the tails down if you pitch forward.

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