Powder Review: blackcrows Nocta
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In a Nutshell
The new blackcrows Nocta is a playful powder ski that isn’t one-dimensional, it handles less fresh conditions just fine as well.
Length Skied: 185.5 cm
Weight: 2024 g
Stated Dimensions: 140-122-132 mm
Stated Sidecut: 21 m
Recommended Mount Point: -5.5 cm
The blackcrows Nocta is available now.
Intro
There seem to be two main schools of thought when it comes to designing 120+ mm wide pow skis. Either, make a ski that does one thing (ski fresh snow) as well as possible, at the expense of pretty much everything else, or, instead, make a ski that’s a blast in fresh snow, but can handle variable conditions with aplomb as well.
The blackcrows Nocta used to err further toward that first category. It was a full rocker pow slayer, and it left the “versatile” pow ski tasks for the 115 mm underfoot Anima. But, new for 2023-24, the blackcrows Nocta gets some tweaks that should make it more attractive to skiers who love to ski pow, but aren’t getting first tracks all day.
Notably, the Nocta gets some camber underfoot, as well as a slightly tighter radius. So, how does this new Nocta compare to other playful pow skis?
Length and Mount Point
I skied the 185.5 cm Nocta. That’s right in line with the skis I’m normally on. That said, if I was reviewing the old, full rocker Nocta, I would have lobbied to get time on the 190 cm version, since I find that the more “dedicated” and less “versatile” a pow ski is, the more I appreciate being on a longer ski. But, for a playful, versatile ski like the new Nocta, the 185.5 cm length made a lot of sense for me. Skiing inbounds I never felt like I wanted the longer version. If I was going heli skiing or cat skiing, I’d probably go 190 though.
With skis like the Nocta, I tend to choose my size based more on maneuverability/stability than float. A well-designed 184 cm pow ski will float just fine for me, so I jump between there, and 192 cm skis based on how fast I'll be skiing, and how tight of terrain I'll be using them in.
The Nocta has a relatively neutral mount point at -5.5 cm back from true center. I didn’t feel a need to deviate from that point, but I also don’t think the Anima is going to feel incredibly sensitive to small changes in the mount, so I wouldn’t hesitate to bump it forward a centimeter or two for more jibby skiers, and back a little for more directional skiers.
The Nocta is available in three lengths from 177 cm to 190 cm. I really wish blackcrows made their wider skis in shorter lengths. Smaller folks deserve to ski wide skis in pow, they’re really fun. It’s too bad that blackcrows doesn’t make “Birdie” versions of their Anima or Nocta skis.
Where does the Nocta shine?
In untracked pow, the Nocta is a whole lot of fun, which is sort of the entire point of this ski. It planes easily on top of the snow, and is loose and easy to slash around, even in tighter, and flatter terrain. Where some pow skis do best making big turns on open slopes, the Nocta is in its element hunting for stashes in tight trees. It’s very easy to wiggle around on, making turns in leftovers others ignored.
The Nocta is also a lot of fun in the air, it’s not super poppy, but it’s easy to get off the ground, and once in the air its swing weight feels lower than the numbers would suggest. If you like to throw lots of small shifties and spins on pow days, the Nocta is happy to oblige.
That super maneuverable character shines when things get a little more chopped up as well. The Nocta is a lot of fun in soft chop. It urges you to make the most of it, slashing every stash, and then airing every lip before you shut it down again in the next soft patch. It’s not a plowable ski, you can’t just stand in the middle of it and let it run over everything in its path, but with a little finesse you can ski it fast in more variable snow.
And that’s where the tweaks blackcrows made to the Nocta really make sense. This is a pow ski that’s still fun a couple of days after the storm. It’s not uncomfortable to ski in variable, or even firm snow. No, it doesn’t crush those firm and challenging conditions, but it does handle them just fine, and is still fun to air and play on, even when the snow is far from fresh.
When things are more firm, the Nocta does start to feel soft and short, it’s important to stay centered on it, otherwise I felt like I was at a danger of overpowering the tips in variable conditions.
That said, in variable conditions, I felt like the Nocta was more “precise” and easy to ski powerfully than skis like the Atomic Bent 120. It’s definitely more capable than the lighter pow skis like that Bent or the Armada ARV 116 JJ UL.
For more comparisons, check out our article on the best powder skis of the year.
Where does the Nocta make some compromises?
If you’re looking for a “deepest days only” ski, there are better options on the market than the new Nocta. Yes, it does really well in powder, but there are looser, floatier, more playful skis out there. So if you’ve got a dream trip planned, and think you’re only going to be skiing perfect snow, you could get a more pow specific ski, like the old Nocta, or something more exotic like the Armada ARG II UL. But, if, more realistically, you’re looking for a ski that’s a whole bunch of fun in pow, but can handle less than stellar conditions, the Nocta will do nicely.
The other compromise that the Nocta makes is in relation to blackcrows’ lineup. With how versatile the new Nocta is in more variable snow, I think the window for the Anima is smaller than it used to be. It used to slot in nicely between the all-mountain but not super fun in pow Atris and the super fun in pow, but not great anywhere else Nocta. Now, with the Nocta handling better in less perfect conditions, there’s less of a reason to look for a ski that falls between the two. It will be interesting to see how the Anima’s role potentially changes.
What would a perfect day on the Nocta look like?
Up early to get a good place in line. Lap after lap of resort pow, working the trees, angling for secret stashes. As the hill gets tracked out, there’s no need to swap to narrower skis, instead you’re working the side hits, playing around in the air, and slashing cut up piles of snow.
