When Kästle chose Head to be its partner in production, it was a wise investment that continues to reap dividends. Just imagine all the experience in Head’s Race Department, all the different iterations of a wood/fiberglass/Titanal construction it has concocted, just in the last few seasons, in order to service its international stable of stars. When Kästle elected to revitalize its RX12 series this year with new SL and GS models, the team with which it collaborated not only could build anything it wanted, it probably already had.

The ski Kästle conceived adds a Hollowtech tip, which improves dampening and forebody contact, to the classic metal/glass sandwich around a poplar/ash core. Hollowtech works in perfect harmony with the RX12 SL’s traditional camber, that brings the shovel back to the snow, and a continuous-radius sidecut with its widest point near the tip. Unfettered by FIS restrictions on sidecut radius, Kästle went tighter, pinching the RX12 SL’s radius down to 12.5m in a 165cm.

The only problem with the cobra-quick RX12 SL is its scarcity. Even shop owners with nothing but love for Kästle would be mad to stock a world-class slalom ski that can’t be raced because it’s too rapid-fire edge-to-edge. But if you can find one, you’ll have a rare ski that’s an absolute gas to turn loose on hard snow. Sold with ($1,549) or without ($1,299) a race plate and binding.