Numbers exude an aura of rectitude and certainty that mere words must struggle at length to contradict. The Finesse and Power averages say the Kästle FX95 HP is a Power ski with a kind disposition; this copy will seek to persuade those who peruse it that this ski is, by virtue of its baseline, inherently a Finesse ski, albeit one with a rich construction that allows it to pose as a Power potentate.
The Enforcer 100 remains one of the most powerful skis in the All-Mountain West category, a fall-line charging engine with a penchant for pulverizing crud. Of course it’s great in powder; what Recommended ski in this genre isn’t? Powder is never the problem. Battered, inconsistent crud, particularly when it’s as heavy as lava, is the problem. The Enforcer 100 tears through a corrugated crud field like it was an old cotton sheet.
The simplicity of the Supernatural 100’s construction contributes to its playful attitude and easy-steering properties. As a cambered, all-glass ski, the Supernatural 100 pops out of the turn even in powder, giving it a lively but controlled rebound that carries the skier into the next turn. It seems like an odd adjective to apply to a ski, but the Supernatural 100 is more comfortable to ski than other skis of equal width. We attribute its ease of operation in part to its more torsionally soft lay-up, allowing a ski this wide to roll up on edge gradually and conform readily to irregular terrain.
If the Line Pandora 95 had a theme song, it would be “Surfer Girl.” When she isn’t surfing she’s swimming sideways, setting up for the next wave. Asking it to carve a clean arc on hard snow is like compelling an adolescent to stay after school and clean the erasers. It will do it, but only at her own pace and she will resent you forever for it.
For the Finesse skier, the Salomon QST 99 has a lot to offer. It has a big sweet spot, it responds to relatively low doses of skier-applied pressure, the forebody pulls the skier into a comfortable, medium-radius turn and the tail releases automatically. Best of all, it has the chameleon quality of carving like a champ on groomers yet as soon as it detects soft snow it morphs into a surfy, terrain-absorbing off-piste ski.