СКИ KASTLE FX106 HP

What Kastle says about the FX106 HP

“The FX106 HP is made for the backcountry and when teamed up with the FREETOUR binding is also designed to be used as a touring ski. The 3D shape, triple wood core and carbon-fibreglass wrapped core of the lightweight TRI technology results in maximum transfer of power, stability and perfect float. Combined with Hollowtech 3.0 this ski raises the bar in terms of minimised weight and maximised downhill performance.

With the FX106 HP, epic lines and big drops are a breeze for Freeride World Tour Champion Lorraine Huber. This HP (high performance) ski is the weapon of choice for pros like Lorraine, from the first lift right through to the last ride of the day.”

The FX106 HP is designed to excel off-piste, and Kastle’s also making a point to emphasize pairing it with their Freetour  touring binding                  . So this ski is supposed to be light enough for human-powered skiing, and yet it’s also supposed to be supportive enough for FWT athletes like Lorraine Huber. That’s not something we hear about many skis, but the FX106 HP definitely has some unique things going on with its construction, so let’s first dive into that.

Construction

The FX106 HP uses a blend of several interesting technologies and techniques in its construction.

First, it uses Kastle’s new “Tri Tech” construction, which consists of three key elements. First, the FX106 HP uses three different types of woods — poplar, beech, and paulownia. The center of the core is a poplar / beech blend, designed to offer power, rigidity, and damping due to the heavier beech wood. Then the outer portions of the core (near the edges) feature a lighter poplar / paulownia blend.

That mixed wood core is implemented in a “3D” construction where the center band of poplar / beech is thicker than the outer poplar / paulownia stringers. So, combined with the different wood types, you get a thicker, stronger core in the middle of the ski and then a lighter core near the edges.

The FX106 HP’s center band of poplar / beech is also wrapped in a carbon & fiberglass “sleeve,” designed to increase torsional rigidity and bonding strength between the different woods. 

Finally, the FX106 HP uses Kastle’s signature “Hollow Tech 3.0,” which means the ski has core material removed from the tip / shovel and replaced with a synthetic material (the obvious green cutout at the tip) that’s designed to decrease swing weight while actually making the ski’s tips more damp.

Shape / Rocker Profile

While the FX skis use a much lighter construction than the old BMX skis, their shapes haven’t drastically changed over the years. Overall, the FX106 HP looks pretty similar to the old Kastle BMX 105 in terms of shape. The FX106 HP has a pretty tapered shovel and a significantly less tapered tail.

The FX106 HP’s rocker profile is pretty different from the old BMX 105. The FX106 HP has a fairly deep, but pretty low-slung tip rocker line and a significantly shallower tail rocker line. The BMX 105 had deeper tip and tail rocker lines that started rising more abruptly.

All in all, the FX106 HP’s rocker profile is nothing super out of the ordinary for a ~106mm-wide, directional freeride ski. There are lots of skis in this class with deeper rocker lines and more tip and tail splay, but there are also some with even less rocker and splay.

Flex Pattern

Here’s how we’d characterize the flex pattern of the FX106 HP:

Tips: 5-6
Shovels: 6.5-7.5
In Front of Toe Piece: 8-9
Underfoot: 10
Behind the Heel Piece: 9.5-9
Tails: 8-7

The FX106 HP has a very directional flex pattern with very soft tips and significantly stiffer tails. The hollowed-out portion of the FX106 HP’s tips is very soft, but it then ramps up pretty quickly as you move to the middle of the ski. The middle is very strong, it stays strong behind the bindings, and then it smoothly softens at the very end.

Mount Point

The recommended mount point on our pair of the FX106 HP comes in around -12 cm from true center, which is very far back.

When I measured the FX106 HP’s mount point, I triple checked it since I had just measured the much heavier, more traditionally shaped & rockered Kastle MX99, which has a recommended mount point that isn’t even that far back (the MX99’s is around -9.5 cm from center).

So, combined with its shape, flex pattern, and rocker profile, the FX106 HP’s very rearward mount point makes it look like a very directional ski that will best reward a forward stance.

Weight

Given the FX106 HP’s lack of metal and use of construction elements that reduce weight, it’s not that surprising that it comes in at a fairly low weight of around 2092 grams per ski for the 184 cm length. That’s not nearly as light as most dedicated touring skis, but it’s also significantly lighter than many other “freeride” skis in this waist width.

What is interesting is that the old Kastle BMX skis and the old FX95 HP were definitely not light skis. The BMX 105 (non-metal version) came in around 2271 grams per ski for the 189 cm length, which is far heavier than the FX106 HP. So, again, Kastle seems to be going in a pretty different direction with their new FX skis.

The FX106 HP’s weight puts it in the same class as many skis we’d classify as “50/50” skis — light enough for touring, but not so light that we wouldn’t want to ski them in the resort. We’ll be interested to see how the FX106 HP stacks up against both heavier and lighter skis in its class.

For reference, here are a number of our measured weights (per ski in grams) for some notable skis. Since Kastle is marketing the FX106 HP for both lift-accessed and human-powered skiing, we’re listing both resort- and touring-oriented skis. Keep in mind the length differences to try to keep things apples-to-apple