The 2019 Kastle MX 89 is an all-mountain beast that’s happiest at speed and with a capable pilot. At 89 mm underfoot, the skis are ideally suited to on-trail skiing, but also have the versatility to rip all over the hill. On groomed trails, the skis are an absolute blast. They have a flat tail that locks you into the turn and doesn’t really want to let go. They have an innovative sidecut that carves some sweet arcs, and the race-inspired sandwich construction makes you feel like you’re on the world cup circuit. Stability and edge hold are the benchmarks of this ski, and our testers found that to be 100% true. With an 18 meter turn radius at 180 cm length, the skis make some pretty amazing medium to long radius turns.
Steve Sulin skied that 180 and found that it was longer than expected. He calls it “powerful and loves to rip turns. You’d better hold on tight, because this ski is for experts only. They love to do long turns, and as a result of that, combined with the stiffness, are quite a handful in moguls.” That’s expected, with that flat tail and stiff nature, that moguls would be somewhat challenging, even at 89 mm underfoot. Steve’s low score for forgiveness affirms the stoutness of the MX 89.
Michael Rooney was bullish on the quickness and versatility of the MX 89. He felt the 180 skied true to size and actually thought the skis were quite forgiving. “The MX 89 turns well in all sorts of snow. It is very predictable and never surprises you.” That quote certainly speaks to the stable and expectable character of the skis. What you see is what you get from the Kastle MX 89.
Mike Thomas loved the stability, torsional stiffness, and edge hold of the 180 cm MX 89. His low score for forgiveness is unsurprising, given the stoutness of the skis. Mike has a lot of good things to say about the skis, and starts with a very nice compliment. “Kastle hasn’t messed this up at all. For the skier who wants a traditional feeling: race-like with some width. It reacts immediately to input when tipped, but can be steered as well to make quick fall-line turns. I love it. It’s more versatile than it should be, but it wants to carry speed and arc. It’s first and foremost a ‘driver’ ski.” Mike touches on some really nice points, and the one we like to focus on is the notion that a traditional style ski can also perform like a modern freeride ski. This type of versatility is important to note for anyone who thinks that the MX 89 can only carve clean arcs.
Kastle’s continued success in unsurprising, given the fact that they make such high-quality products. The MX 89 is a perfect example of a ski that has a limitless ceiling in terms of performance. High-end skiers will garner the best results from these skis, as their demanding nature requires some confident input. When they get on edge and come around, you’ll realize that you made a proper choice by skiing on the Kastle MX 89.
