2013 Icelantic Nomad RKR Ski Review

Icelantic was viewed as more of a boutique brand or a 'microbrew' as Freeskier would call it in their buyers guide a couple of seasons ago. Now they are much more than that.  Icelantic has been making some incredible skis over in their Denver Colorado Factory.  Skiers are most familliar with Icelantic's Shaman, Da'nollie, Pilgrim, and Nomad.  For the 2012 -2013 season Icelantic has a new model of Nomad, the RKR.  If you wished the 105mm waisted Nomad had Rocker, well now it does.

The only gripe I had about the previous Nomad models was that it didn't have rocker.  The addition of rocker makes this 105mm waisted ski truely awesome.  The Icelantic Nomad RKR Skis are one of the easier wider waisted boards to get up on edge and arc some big cruising turns down your favorite trail.  Of course rocker makes this ski a lot more fun when you hop off trail.

If trees and bumps haven't been your thing, or you just can't ski them as much of the day as you would like because of fatigue. The Nomad RKR will make the trees and bumps feel much more fun and effortless.  The swingweight on this ski is very light making the tighter trees and bumps feel like nothing.  The weight of this ski is for sure going to attract skiers that enjoy AT or Tour skiing.

The Nomad RKR would be a great AT Ski option, as it's not heavy and there isn't a ton of rocker to it so when skins are added to the ski you are still able to grip (more surface area touching the snow in skis with less rocker, more surface area = more friction/grip) when skinning up hill.  Throw your AT Binding of choice on this bad boy and have a ball.

Quick Icelantic Nomad RKR Review aka The Bottom Line:  The Nomad RKR isn't designed for racing your friends down the mountain at mach 1, it's designed to have as much fun as possible on the way down the mountain, whereever you want to take it.  This is a great ski for someone to get on that has been hesitant about the rocker scene.  Jump in the water it's nice, Icelantic did a great job with this very versatile ski, and the graphic looks killer on the snow.  I expect this ski will win some awards next season, just watch.

Buy the Icelantic Nomad RKR $699.00