BMX115

When I refer to a Power Powder ski’s ability to carve like a much narrower ski, I’m not kidding, but neither am I telling the whole story. A wide ski with camber in the belly of its baseline, like the Kästle BMX115, provides a solid platform that won’t swim under pressure. On groomers, the skier notices the slender edge that’s dug in the snow more than the behemoth slab of ski that isn’t. As long as the ski is on edge, awareness of its ballooned dimensions is suppressed.

LX73

Kästle wasn’t even trying to make a knockout women’s ski. It applied a square sidewall to what was previously a cap ski to give it a performance kick, in the process raising the performance bar to the elite level. It doesn’t hurt that the stock lay-up for a Kästle is a vertically laminated beech/silver fir core encased in twin laminates of glass and Titanal. There’s a reason it’s the foundation of all the best hard-snow skis being made today. The strongest women might overpower it, but the LX73 isn’t meant for them. It’s a confidence builder for those who aren’t as skilled or athletic as they’d like to be.

Navigator 80

The Nordica Navigator 80 is supposed to be the runt of its litter, with a less meat on its bones than the Navigator 85 and 90. But trimming a little fat seems to have done more good than harm, for the Navigator turns more easily than its bigger mates without losing...

Navigator 85

If you’re looking for a Frontside style of ski in an all-mountain width, the Navigator 85 is an excellent choice at a more than fair price. Our test crew tended to skip over the Navigator 85, but shop owners did not, stocking more of the Navigator 85 than either of...

Navigator 90

The Navigator 90 presents an interesting alternative to the Enforcer 93. Both meet the standard definition of an All-Mountain East ski, both are ranked as Power skis and both are made by the same team at Nordica. Yet to describe them as dissimilar would be putting...