The 20/21 Kästle collection is a particularly important one in the brand’s history, as it’s the first under new ownership that moved production to its own Czech factory. Whenever a venerable brand changes where its skis are made, there’s always a risk that quality will go down, which for a high-end line like Kästle could deal a fatal blow to its reputation.

Kästle adherents everywhere can now exhale. If the new MX98 is any indication, Kästle’s new facility can produce a ski every bit as good as any Kästle that’s preceded it, which is saying a lot. The last time Kästle made an MX98 it was the burliest All-Mountain West ski extant. Its beech and silver fir core was bracketed by two .5mm Titanal layers; all that torsional rigidity made the ski feel wider than its measurements. If the skier didn’t commit to the turn, the ski would sense weakness and assume control. If you weren’t a strong, technical skier, you were more prisoner than pilot.

This personality profile didn’t change with the advent of the MX99 two seasons ago. A top layer of carbon and a new generation of Hollowtech, Kästle’s signature, shock-dampening shovel design, muffled a bit more vibration, but the ski’s non-negotiable approach to turn shape – the fewer the better – limited its potential owners to those experts willing to submit to its terms.

The 20/21 MX98 incorporates several design changes that together flip the ski’s personality from stubborn to compliant. The tip is a tad wider in order to accommodate the larger Hollowtech 3.0 insert, and its slight early rise returns to a fully cambered baseline further up the ski. Both these moves improve snow contact, which the MX98 excels at. Note that the tail is square and flat, so the MX98 can hang onto the bottom half of a carved turn better than any other ski in the AMW genre.

Inside, the MX98 switched silver fir for poplar, which made the ski lighter, and dropped the top layer of carbon, allowing the inherent springiness of its top and bottom fiberglass laminates to shine. The result is ski that feels quicker both on and off the edge, and while it remains a long-radius ride, it feels more maneuverable than its earlier incarnations.

One property that hasn’t changed about the flagship MX model is its pedigree: it comes from a line of carving models, the only ski in the All-Mountain West to do so. What this means in practice is that when other AMW models confront a foot of new snow they’re predisposed to ride near the surface, while the MX98 bulls it to the side. Getting knocked off course feels not only unlikely, but impossible.

Because the MX98 is at heart a technical ski, it’s best appreciated on the feet of a skilled skier. No question the new MX98 is a more forgiving, easier to manage model than its ancestors, but it’s still not a set of training wheels. Jim Schaffner of Start Haus, the embodiment of a strong technical skier, assesses the MX98 as a “huge improvement over last year’s model. This answers the question about the quality of the new factory. This is a must-have on the ski wall for next season.” Footloose Sports’ Larry Rhoads concurs, whimsically noting that to properly score describe the MX98, “I need an 11 on the Realskiers scale.”