by Jackson Hogen | Aug 31, 2018
How many turns can you make in a run, in a day, in a season? It doesn’t matter what the answers are, for the Atomic Redster S9 has a bottomless well of SL arcs packed into its short and shapely frame. To the S9, every run must look like a racecourse. Its instinct for high-speed turning is so engrained it practically issues instructions to its pilot rather than takes them. If the S9’s desires were audible, the first prod to its pilot would be, “Go faster.” The types of whiplash turns it relishes need energy, so poking down the hill isn’t an option.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 31, 2018
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by Jackson Hogen | Aug 31, 2018
Sometimes it seems every new model in the Age of Lighter is Better is being made for some pixie who can’t bend a real ski. Put a big man who knows how to motivate down the hill on one of these weak reeds and it will fold like a $5 lawn chair. So it was interesting to read the comments of Corty Lawrence, a full-sized dude (and one of the best boot fitters of his, or any other, generation) when we pried him off the i.Speed Pro after several scorching runs. To compress Corty’s impressions into an aphorism Yoda might utter, “Total commitment yields total reward.” If you know where the accelerator is and aren’t afraid to stomp on it, you’re the target pro for the i.Speed Pro.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 31, 2018
The RX12 SL is built on traditional bones, with a classic, metal/glass sandwich around a poplar/ash core, to which Kästle adds its special ingredient, the colorful Hollowtech tip, to keep its fully cambered baseline in contact with the snow. A continuous-radius sidecut extends all the way into the tip, so as soon as it’s tipped, it’s engaged. Unfettered by FIS restrictions on sidecut radius, Kästle went tighter, pinching the RX12 SL’s radius down to 12.5m in a 165cm.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 31, 2018
That both Kästle RX12’s sit atop our Power rankings proves that our testers prefer the more forgiving branch of the race ski family tree. The RX12 GS behaves less like a true race GS than a narrow-waisted carver. It’s unadorned by any plate or interface except what may come with a given race binding, so it isn’t as tippy as a ski with more standheight. Being closer to the snow gives it a more all-mountain feel and allows the skier to roll gradually to the edge. The absence of extra hardware not only makes the RX12 lighter than category average, it helps to keep it supple and easy to bend.
