La Sportiva Vapor Nano Ski

Me: 5'9 170lbs. Aggressive skier with extensive background on 130flex alpine boots and heavy metal skis/high din bindings. Suffice it to say I am used to driving skis hard.

Used a pair of 180 Nanos for 20 plus days and really liked the ski. As would be obvious going uphill was a revelation. Even riding a lift with these on my feet at a resort demo was a surreal experience. The low swing weight made these skis so much fun in tight trees or little chutes where it felt like I could just flick my hips and both skis came around instantaneously. But with the forward mounting location and the fact that the skis do ski very short I found myself plowing under any snow more than 6" deep. I didn't want to mount a 180 further back cause I didn't want to lose tail power on a ski that already skied short. So I made the call for a pair of 188cm.

The 188s are a truly strong ski. The extra length and edge provided a HUGE boost in performance at speed, providing a bit of a longer radius feel, but without losing very much of that quick pivot/swing that make these skis really unique. The extra length provided a good bit of extra float, and I never felt bogged down except on the absolute deepest days.

As for materials and durability that is a bit more nuanced. The bases and edges are top notch. The factory structure is as good as I have seen out of the packaging. These things hold wax very well and can take some abuse. Downsides on durability are that the mostly hollow core (vertically stacked kevlar honeycomb) means that if you take a hard impact on the base you may not "core shot" but you'll sort of dent the base a little. So it's easy to take your base out of flat (even mounting can do this a little, I had small concavities under my screws) if that is something that matters to you at all. The topsheet is not very durable. Granted it is mostly cosmetic, but it is pretty easy to chip and scratch the topsheet. I somehow managed to put a small hole in mine that I needed to fill up with epoxy.

I put a good 80+ days on mine over 2 seasons (skied with TLT6P and Vertical FT12) before passing them on to new home. These are being replaced by a new pair of 189cm Vapor Floats!


NOTE TO SPORTIVA:
Please, space your ski widths a little better. Sveltes, Nanos, and (I hope) Floats are awesome. But with the Svelte at 96mm, and the Float at 117mm, the Nano really should be 106-107mm. If it was I would not be going to the wider Float (which will really be a lot wider than I need and will reduce my total days on the ski as I will opt for my 95-100mm on anything sub 12".

Overall: Five Stars for an amazing expanse of width for its weight (or rather, lack thereof) with downhill performance in soft snow just as excellent as would be expected from its dimensions in all regards. But definitely not even close to a quiver-of-one (even if your narrower skis for firmer conditions might save hardly any weight over the Nano). Also Five Stars for Skimo Co’s free mounting, as DIY’ers are in for some extra challenge.

Background on product familiarity: I’ve used the 2014-15 version for just a single outing so far. (Yes, our 2015-16 New England “winter” was almost that bad, although with hindsight I should have used the Nano for several other fleeting powder days.) I mounted the 172cm length with Plum Race 145 bindings for Dynafit RC1 boots (size 26). Closest ski I have is the Dynafit Denali (168cm).

First, the first impressions out of the box: Width, weight, rocker – even just checking out this ski off snow creates quite the first impression!
Mounting entails some challenges. The suggested mounting position is so far in front of any other ski in my quiver. My version had four additional mounting marks for +/- 1 or 2cm. I went a full 2cm back, especially given how short my race boot bsl is relative to my foot size (i.e., my foot is much further forward on the ski than it would be with even a lightweight touring boot).

And in the shorter sizes, you need to drill with a shorter junior mounting bit and grind down all your screws by a couple mm. La Sportiva also recommends a somewhat obscure epoxy, although I used my favorite G/flex 650. Still though, with all these caveats, mounting was (eventually) fine.

Second impressions, in use: Delightful float and general skiability in powder, even more so for the lack of weight on the up. I also survived okay through some necessary jump turns in tightly treed skied-off very steep terrain. So any sort of decent winter backcountry conditions, sure.

Springtime though, or even just difficult winter ski mountaineering, the Nano is not for that kind of versatility, despite a weight spec light enough for anything other than racing. Returning back to the resort via an end-of-the-day scraped-off moderately pitched groomer was a borderline ordeal. Truly steep backcountry terrain covered in all sorts of oddly frozen substances would most likely be an epic in a really bad sense.

Third impressions, for long-term durability: Insufficient basis for far for that.

I have had the V Nano for almost a year. Great ski as others have said. I was a little discouraged as it was easy to get too far forward on this ski. After doing some research I decided to move the bindings back 2 cm. They ski much better now in all conditions. I have the 180s and I'm 210 lbs so I am probably pushing the max on this length.

155# 6'2 ski (and love) 182 Stokes. Ski and don't love 176 denalis. Want a lighter ski than the stokes for powder. 180 or 188?????

These are amazing skis- you will pay through the nose for them, but they are amazing. I have skied them on everything from bottomless blower to refrozen death crust, and while they are clearly meant for the former they do pretty well in the latter as well, although they are a chattery due to lack of mass. The carbon "nano-tubes" do their job in making an uber-light powder board that is absurdly fun on both the way up and the way down. Pair with mohair skins and you will simply fly up the skintrack.

For the record, I have skied these with TLT5 and TLT6, which I think pairs perfectly, along with plum race 185 bindings. No complaints so far. This season I will try them out with the Alien 1.0. Anything less stiff than these will probably suffer a bit in terms of performance (if you ski them in TLT5/6 without the tongues you will notice the difference, of course.)

Weight-wise, the ski is clearly as good as it gets, that's a given- so I won't dwell on this. I do have a few comments on the performance:

1) They ski short. Size up, for sure. Don't hesitate.
2) They like to turn and if you're cruising they will pull you into a particular shape pretty strongly for a rocker tail/tip ski. This took me some getting used to.

and, of course 3), you'd better have friends with light gear too, or really fit friends, as you'll be half as tired at the end of each lap and want to ski twice as much.

For me, my touring quiver consists at all times of these and a pair of skis in the low-mid eighties for days when the snow isn't as heavy or for steeper mountaineering. In a pinch, these could do both- you will come up against the fundamental limitations of such a lightweight ski that is 100+ under foot, but within that category they are pretty dan versatile.

Overall, fantastic ski and worth the $$$ if you're into non-stop powder laps.

I normally don't write reviews, but these skis deserve the praise. Can't say enough. Super light, responsive and fast. I've had them in waist deep powder, bullet-proof ice fields, ski resort packed ice groomers, moguls, etc. Would buy again. I am 6'2" and chose the 180 and am happy with the weight to performance ratio. Also MADE IN THE USA.

I want to buy this ski for my wife for Christmas (which makes me feel less guilty for getting nice skis for myself). She is 170cm tall. With the rocker, I'm not sure whether to go for the 164 or 172. She will mostly use it in the bc but occasionally on the resort in the right conditions. I'm thinking 164 would be best. Your thoughts?

I am interested in the Nano - is there someone who has skied them can respond to the review from Wildsnow and Backcountry w/ regard to the mounting point being too far forward. Also, I currently have the Manaslu 184 which I am happy with; wondering with the significant rocker in the tip if the 180 would feel too short?

These are probably my favorite pair of skis I have ever skied. They offer the ultimate In lack of weight and performance. I have skied these on everything from boiler plate ice to corn to powder, and a little breakable crust. The rocker helps in the less then ideal conditions. In powder they are a dream!! They hold edge and don't chatter on hard surfaces, and carve exceptionally well on corn. These are hands down the nicest carbon ski I have skied.

Uphill they fly!! I use them with a pomoca skin, and Sportiva tip kit. This is a lightweight nice, clean set up. White top sheets seem to work against keeping snow from building up on them.

Only negative is the durability of the paint on the top sheets, the paint seems to chip pretty easy. I have one tip missing a lot of paint, while the other one looks fine. I have never had this issue with top sheets before. This is the only reason I rate these a 4 out of 5. This doesn't effect performance in any way.

Overall- great product only ski I have skied since I received them 6 weeks ago, I would buy again in a second

I am debating on getting this ski this year or waiting to see what else will be in this category next year. I am also wondering if you have any perspective on how well the ski skis. I like the reviews I've read thus far. Will you be demoing at all this weekend at the Pkeg? Thanks for the help.
Ian