Kastle fx86 skis, Atomic Poles, Atomic Hawk 120 boots

A snowHead

How did all my new kit go in Norway?

So I got new skis, boots and poles for Trysil, as I am out on PreBBW as well and wifey was unsure what to get me for xmas.

Poles

These are Atomic black and white, slightly wider thickness from snowinn for £20. A bargain, comfy grip and super light.

Boots

Atomic Hawks 120. Purchased from CEM. Fit pretty well but after skiing on them in fridges was having numbness in little toes. Adjustments made with CEM but still not quite right. Out in resort having same issue, had a chat to Sport Lodgen at the top of Hoyfjell and they got out the wooden sticks and made me take off my boots and socks. This immediately showed them the pressure points in red skin on my white feet. They recommended a stronger instep mould (Sidas) to support the foot more and blowing out the area by the little toes by 1-2mm. Cost £100 for sidas hotbeds and £30 to adjust boot. Cooling the boot involves leaving it outside so hot chocolate beckoned. Skied for an hour and was a lot better in the boot, but still not perfect and so they checked the red marks again and trimmed down the atomic white base plate inside a little as I've got veins onto tope of my foot that are quite prominent. One more hour skiing and a minor grind by the toe resulted in a good fit. No further charges - one flat price and if they can't get it right they keep going until they do. They agreed with CEM that this was the right sized boot for me.

They feel good to transmit power down into the ski and I can flex the 120 reasonably well. I'd probably say they benefit from a custom injected liner, but lovely boot in grey with orange buckles.

Skis

So I spoke to Kastle and they recommended fx86 in 168 cm size for me. They're nice and plain in graphics with a light green plastic cutout at the front However Snow and Rock matched an online price so I got the ski with a Kastle rebranded Tyrolia 10 binding all setup for £485.

They felt long the first day, maybe because I am more used to hiring 160cm carvers rather than all mountain skis. Crossed a few times at front and back However I had adapted by day two and found these really good little chargers on piste and happy to play on the site edges on the sides as well. Cuts well into ice but did have one or to iffy moments when it suddenly hooked me on relatively flat ground but managed to recover. Felt light, slid well and didn't feel like I reached anywhere near its limits at any time.

A snowHead

So why didn't you get custom insoles from CEM to start with?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@spyderjon, I did but the chaps in Norway reckoned they still didn’t give enough support for my high arch - CEM will tell your I have weird feet

Help!!

Kastle fx86 skis, Atomic Poles, Atomic Hawk 120 boots

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