The Kästle BMX105 HP can carve if it must, but carving usually means hard snow, and hard snow isn’t its preferred milieu. The BMX105 HP is nearly the opposite of a carving tool despite being built from the same ingredients, contorting Kästle’s customary wood/glass/Titanal sandwich into a double-rockered baseline with only a hint of sidecut. Tapered tips and tails connected by a straighter sidecut create a platform that planes evenly though deep, uneven snow, but be prepared to exert more effort if you want to initiate a tight line on hard snow.

Easily bored by slow skiing, the BMX105 HP needs some wind in its sails before it will consider turning out of the fall line. It’s strong on edge but not quick to it, so short turns feel more like work instead of recreation. “Require being driven hard and fast to respond. Performs its best only at high speed,” carps California Ski Company’s M. Angell.

It can get away with liking its turns long and fast because its classic construction ensures that no powder on earth can withstand it. A vertically laminated core crafted from beech and silver fir that’s encased in fiberglass and two full sheets of Titanal has a way of persuading even the most set-up crud to get out of the way. But getting it to turn quickly isn’t in the average skier’s skill set. It takes a technical skier who can use edge angle to control turn radius to keep the BMX105 HP from aiming straight for the base lodge.

“This is a skier’s ski,” affirms Bob Kuehn of Gravity Sports, “not for the faint of heart or those of lower skill level. The BMX 105 HP rewards those who ski well.” Holly from Footloose agrees, praising the BMX105 HP’s “smooth, solid edge for a wide ski made for a more powerful skier. It rides beautifully!