How much do a ski's tip and tail flare out?
A ski's spec sheet lists three widths: tip, waist and tail. The gap between them is the shape of the ski. We looked at four popular skis whose widths two independent sources agree on.
Our terms
- Tip flare = tip width minus waist width.
- Tail flare = tail width minus waist width.
These are our own definitions, calculated from the published tip/waist/tail triple.
What we found
Tip flare ranges from 30 mm (Nordica Santa Ana 97) to 43 mm (Volkl M7 Mantra). Tail flare ranges from 18 to 25 mm. On all four skis the tail is narrower than the tip, by 10.5 to 18 mm.
| Ski | Length (cm) | Tip/waist/tail (mm) | Tip flare (mm) | Tail flare (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard Rustler 9 | 180 | 131.5/96/121 | 35.5 | 25.0 |
| Volkl M7 Mantra | 177 | 139/96/121 | 43.0 | 25.0 |
| Nordica Enforcer 99 | 185 | 133/99/121 | 34.0 | 22.0 |
| Nordica Santa Ana 97 | 167 | 127/97/115 | 30.0 | 18.0 |
Does the shape change with ski length? For the one ski we could confirm at two sizes, the Enforcer 99, a little: 132/99/120 mm at 179 cm and 133/99/121 mm at 185 cm, so 1 mm more tip flare and 1 mm more tail flare in the longer size. For the other skis we only have one confirmed size, so we make no comparison.
What this does not say
This is four skis, using maker and retailer numbers, not our own measurements. It is a pattern, not proof. One ski at two sizes is not a trend. We do not claim anything about how a ski skis: our data has no on-snow scores for taper.
Sources
- Ski Essentials ski test pages for each ski, checked 2026-10-31.
- The BackCountry product pages for the same skis, checked 2026-10-31. A value is used only where the two agree at the same length.
- Flare calculations: our own,
posts/2026-11-08-taper/analysis.py.
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