Every key feature of the Cham 2.0 W 87 is tuned to hit its high notes in new, or at least recent, snow. The short-radius sidecut for tight trees, the long-ski surface area for flotation, the rockered baseline to facilitate a quick swivel, are all better suited for choppy snow than groomage. It’s Paulownia core is also lightweight, so lithe lasses can push it around in heavy spring snow.
Kästle’s reputation for otherworldly edge grip was established by its MX models, fully cambered assault vehicles that tore groomed terrain to tatters. The FX series, here represented by the FX85 HP, despite using all but identical materials used in the MX mix, could not be more different.
Where the MX89 tries hard to adhere to terrain, the FX85 HP works overtime to keep the connection loose. Its pivot-friendly attitude begins with the baseline, a double rockered affair dubbed Dual Rise by Kästle. On a 173cm, the forward contact point is pulled back 361mm and the tail begins to elevate 217mm before it’s done. (We know these numbers because Kästle helpfully prints them on the topskin.)
Some day, there will be a museum for everything; in the History of Ski Design Museum, the display devoted to today’s All-Mountain East genre will showcase the Völkl Kendo. The ski beneath the name has subtly mutated every few seasons, most recently last year; the consensus among Realskiers’ testers is that the current incarnation is the best suited to, well, everything.
What makes the Kendo so well admired by so many skiers is that it’s truly ready for anything. Powered by two sheets of Titanal around a multi-layered wood core, the Kendo retains enough camber underfoot to generate energy at the end of the arc, propelling the skier from turn to turn. This is the key to the Kendo’s confidence-building behavior on hard snow.
One can make a case for the Völkl Kenja being the best ski ever made for the advanced woman skier. Its Titanal laminates – rarely found in women’s skis – give it unparalleled bite on hard snow and the resilience to fight back in heavy crud. The Kenja excels because it doesn’t condescend.
“From year to year the Kenja continues to be the perfect ski for any condition,” writes Skylar from Aspen Ski and Board. “Outstanding edge hold on ice and easy to turn at higher speeds while still maintaining control. I’d recommend it for any advanced woman who loves it all!”
The all-mountain skis K2 introduced last year looked nothing like the 15-year parade of models that preceded them. The older generation of K2’s earned a huge following by being super simple to ski and as damp as soup.
The new K2’s, christened iKonic, stripped away a decade’s worth of embellishments in search of a leaner, more sensitive ski that would be both lighter and more reactive. To make a possibly inappropriate extended metaphor: compared to skiing, say, the Aftershock, skiing the iKonic 85 Ti is like waking up inside a B movie to find your wife is suddenly 20 years younger.