Powerdrive is Dynastar’s name for a 3-piece sidewall which functions as a unique damping system. Stacked on edge alongside the core, it consists of a soft inner layer, a hard center section and a dynamic outer wall. Any time a viscoelastic material, like that used in the inner piece of Powerdrive, is bonded to Titanal (center part), the resulting element will act as a natural shock absorber, so the forebody of the Intense 12, where the Powerdrive feature resides, should stay nice and quiet on hard snow.
Take a peak at the MX74’s turn radius measurement: 14.7m in a 172cm. That’s cobra quick. With a whopping 50mm of width differential between tip and waist, the MX74 sucks the skier into the top of the turn with the irresistible authority of a black hole. Once on edge, your trajectory is predetermined by the angle of the base against the snow surface plus whatever pressure you apply. The more energy you put in, the more you get out.
Kästle wasn’t even trying to make a knockout women’s ski. It applied a square sidewall to what was previously a cap ski to give it a performance kick, in the process raising the performance bar to the elite level. It doesn’t hurt that the stock lay-up for a Kästle is a vertically laminated beech/silver fir core encased in twin laminates of glass and Titanal. There’s a reason it’s the foundation of all the best hard-snow skis being made today.
It’s interesting to see a K2 on a list of Recommended Technical skis, as the brand devotes most of its energy to off-trail, freeride models. But the Luv Machine is the real deal, a carving utensil with a deep commitment to laying down ruts in groomage. It all starts in the shovel, which in contrast to the usual rockered and tapered K2 tip, connects quickly to the snow. The deep (12.5m @ 160cm) sidecut runs past the forward contact point, so if you’re tipping, you’re carving.
Paul Jacobs of California Ski Company waxes rhapsodic about the Laser SX: “Simply put, the best on-piste ski for the advanced skier. Quick, smooth and stable at any speed, with gobs of rebound energy. The harder the surface, the more remarkable this ski becomes. If you know how to carve a ski, it will put a smile on your face.” Note the emphasis on rebound energy, an oft-overlooked trait among shaped skis. Raw, unrefined power oozes from the Laser SX’s every pore.
