Relatively lightweight and easy flexing, the FX85 HP is also forgiving, as it doesn’t require a technically talented skier to steer it. As Rob from Boot Doctors observes, the FX85 HP is “the finest ski at the Finesse/Power balance aspect. So confident, so smooth, so fine,” he coos. The FX85 HP straddles the line between Power and Finesse properties; last year, we dubbed it a Finesse ski despite a higher Power score because it doesn’t ski like the usual Power selection. This year we’re going with the data that labels it a Power model, but one with a lot of Finesse flavor. Because it responds to a light touch without surrendering steering control, we again award the FX85 HP a Silver Skier Selection.
The most distinctive feature of the FX95 HP to the eye is the bright teal insert in its Hollowtech shovel. Its most distinctive feature on the snow is its Progressive Rise baseline that gradually elevates about a third of the running surface (404mm in the forebody, 242mm at the tail). Radically loosening the ski/snow connection allows the FX95 HP to be steered by any known technique, from a laid-over supercarve to a perpetual power drift. This may be Chris Davenport’s signature ski, but you sure don’t have to be in his league to imagine it was made just for you. The ever-perspicacious Bob Gleason calls the FX95 HP, “As smooth as crystal and strong as diamonds. Put it on edge with the hip inside and ride, baby, ride.”
What do orcas, Grizzly bears and the Kästle MX99 have in common? They’re at the top of the food chain in their respective environments and therefore completely in control and utterly at ease. The MX99 instinctively masters all terrain because it never met any member of the snow family that didn’t cower in its presence. It does not find hard snow to be hard and soft snow, even in its densest, most saturated form, is no match for its Titanal-fueled will power. Like all the Kästle MX models, the new MX99 has no attainable speed limit. You can fire the afterburners until your lips flap, but the MX99 will never lose its sangfroid.
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. It can get away with liking its turns long and fast because its classic construction ensures that no powder on earth can withstand it.
