In terms of the 19/20 FX 106 HP (carbon) "petal to the metal" qualities, there were, for me, coincidentally perhaps, two other 19/20 skis I demoed at SIA that had a similar turn feel/shape/flex, as if from a similar lineage: the 19/20 K2 Mindbender 90 ti, and the unchanged(?) Head Kore 93. Partly a similar overall stiffness feel, perhaps. I was skiing all three in soft snow on the same runs, but the way these skis felt when pressured and carved felt similar, out of, for example, three dozen or so skis tried over the two days. If you've skied either of these two other skis, perhaps this will give a sense for the ride quality of the wider 106s, on groomers or less than 3-5" of powder, at least. (Not sure if this means they had a similar hand flex, necessarily, just the feel and shape of the flex and carve, skiing, felt similar.)
Other things about the way these skis felt were different: for example, at first I was surprised the FX 106s felt while skiing like they were made of a similar material, and similar sounding material, to the Rossignol 7 series (Soul and Super), or the Moment Bibby Pros, as if they were all made of the same fiberglass stuff, more or less, in spite of the carbon in the Kastles. (The other two 19/20 SIA skis had a feel and sound of different material, the Kores a feel and sound of carbon.)
Fortunately, maybe because of more stiffness than the 7s, it seemed the Kastle 106s busted through crud in a way that was not like the Rossi 7s, but much more like the Bibby Pros, many people's baseline for playful, fast crud-busting. For at least that short demo, those 106s seemed safe and stable at speed in crud, though not in the same "pedal to the metal" sort of way as other, stouter Kastles, or the fat Monsters are. (I'd have to be on the 106s in more conditions to be sure how good they are in crud.)
(The Kore 93s also have crud-busting chops, but obviously not in a traditional, "pedal to the metal" way either. It seemed I could charge the things happily, safely, just the same.)
That said, if I had more time on these than just a few demo runs, the wider 106 would probably be the one I'd want to ski in more serious crud or powder, but the Kore 93 might prove to be a strong second, especially in shallower conditions. Just from those few, casual runs at Copper, I tentatively liked the Kore 93 overall the best for now, the Kastle FX 106 (carbon) next, and was surprisingly more neutral on that narrower Mindbender that friends had recommended to me. (I often love fat K2 skis.)
I guess I'm maybe too quirky in my ski tastes to be a reliable source of info on the new FX 106 HP Kastle, but to me it is a neat ski, and a freeride ski, not like previous Kastles.
