MSRP: $1179.00

Tip/Waist/Tail: 123-83-109

Length: 153, 163, 173, 183

The new 83 fills a key waist-width gap in Kastle’s premium-priced, traditionally cambered all-mountain MX collection. It’s a smooth, damp, big-turn cruiser, not as quick as others in the category, but a solid No. 3 for Stability. It’s also no. 3 in Crud Performance, where it uses damp power rather than agility to smooth out choppy snow and afternoon mush piles at speed. “Smooth, clean, predictable, dependable.” Notes: The 83 is built to be narrow enough for everyday versatility even on firm Eastern snow, but still game for adventure off-piste and comfortable in soft snow. The MX line, which has been highly successful for the resurgent Kastle brand, features all-mountain skis built like race skis--wood cores, vertical sidewalls, metal laminates, thicker profiles--to keep the most demanding technicians happy. Kastle resists the trend toward putting rocker on frontside skis such as these, preferring the rebound and positive edge engagement of camber. Kastle’s Elliptical Sidecut is progressively tighter tip and tail, for quick turn initiations and strong finishes. Sturdy vertical-sidewall, laminate construction enhances edge grip. Two sheets of metal keep it damp and torsionally rigid. The Hollowtech tip is a Kastle signature: All but a thin translucent layer of glass is removed from an egg-shaped section of the tip. This reduces swing weight, and because there’s less mass, tip vibration is reduced, both in amplitude and duration, so the ski is quieter on the snow and the edges are locked into the snow sooner and longer. Kastle this year increased the size of the Hollowtech oval and says it now cuts up to 15 percent from the weight of the shovel.

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