novium
Certified Ski Diva
Following someone's excellent recommendation here, I started checking out the Kastle skis. I was looking for an mx84, but when I found a good deal on some used Mx88s nearby, I didn't dither and I snapped those up. I got to take them up this weekend for the first time, and I have notes!
Skier info: 5'8, 170, advanced but not expert, my ski style is definitely a bit carving oriented, driving the skis and nice and forward.
Ski info: 168, full camber, 88 underfoot, 17.5 turn radius, 128, 88, 113, metal/wood
Conditions: late spring firm-to-mush, but not sticky.
okay, this is going to sound weird, but my impression of these skis was that they were some of the most fun I'd skied, but also, "is that it?"
The reviews of this ski kind of intimated me, made me think I might be biting off more than I could chew. They required massive aggression! They were hard to turn at anything but speed. They had grippy tails. They were unforgiving of anything but technically perfect full charging.
And.....
No, they just were regular camber skis. Really awesome camber skis, but I only think you'd find these grippy or hard to turn if you're comparing them to skiing centered on highly rockered skis. You do need to engage the tips to turn, but again, camber skis.
As to the argument that these are east coast ice skates.... Also bemusing. They're 88 underfoot, and it shows. I might have actually preferred the 84s if I could have gotten them, but I don't really have any complaints about getting these edge to edge. And they sailed through and/or around the mounds of mush as beautifully as you could ask.
Carving down the groomers on these skis was like test driving a new Mercedes after driving an old beater with bad shocks. I keep expecting to get jostled and jolted especially with the chopped up mush, and nope. Smooth as butter without ever feeling dead.
They held an edge like a dream, and there's so so much power going from turn to turn.
Even as I kept thinking I ought to swap them out for some lighter skis as the day wore on, I couldn't bring myself to take them off. I had a huge grin on my face all day.
My biggest regret is that the top sheets are a bit boring compared to everything out there.
Skier info: 5'8, 170, advanced but not expert, my ski style is definitely a bit carving oriented, driving the skis and nice and forward.
Ski info: 168, full camber, 88 underfoot, 17.5 turn radius, 128, 88, 113, metal/wood
Conditions: late spring firm-to-mush, but not sticky.
okay, this is going to sound weird, but my impression of these skis was that they were some of the most fun I'd skied, but also, "is that it?"
The reviews of this ski kind of intimated me, made me think I might be biting off more than I could chew. They required massive aggression! They were hard to turn at anything but speed. They had grippy tails. They were unforgiving of anything but technically perfect full charging.
And.....
No, they just were regular camber skis. Really awesome camber skis, but I only think you'd find these grippy or hard to turn if you're comparing them to skiing centered on highly rockered skis. You do need to engage the tips to turn, but again, camber skis.
As to the argument that these are east coast ice skates.... Also bemusing. They're 88 underfoot, and it shows. I might have actually preferred the 84s if I could have gotten them, but I don't really have any complaints about getting these edge to edge. And they sailed through and/or around the mounds of mush as beautifully as you could ask.
Carving down the groomers on these skis was like test driving a new Mercedes after driving an old beater with bad shocks. I keep expecting to get jostled and jolted especially with the chopped up mush, and nope. Smooth as butter without ever feeling dead.
They held an edge like a dream, and there's so so much power going from turn to turn.
Even as I kept thinking I ought to swap them out for some lighter skis as the day wore on, I couldn't bring myself to take them off. I had a huge grin on my face all day.
My biggest regret is that the top sheets are a bit boring compared to everything out there.