Responding to both this O.P. quote and the post about the Confession:
The O.P.'s concern regarding relative dampness or crud ability and getting tossed about is also, for me, the key to choosing a powder ski. Since I already have at least three skis that do both crud and powder exceptionally well, why settle at a resort for a ski that will start to get tossed about come mid-morning?
That said, the Enforcer 110 seems to me a definite possibility, perhaps the 115 Pro even more so (including in terms of dampening/crud riding, the great forte of the old Katana). I haven't yet been on either of the wider Enforcers, but the Enforcer 100 was very good in crud, to me better than the Confession; but not as good as the V-Werks Katana in this regard, at least for me - partly because of a narrower Enforcer 100 width, it seemed.
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Last year I owned and skied the 186 Confession 116, a dozen plus days. I had high hopes for it. I'd often ski the 184 V-Werks Katana 112 and the Confession back to back on the same powder day.
The conclusion, at least for me, was the Confession lacked relative crud-ability, maneuverability (esp. in powder/soft bumps) and edge release/slarvability when needed (compared to the V-Works Katana or Bibby, for instance).
I also know skiers who are very good who really like the Confession, no problem.
Suspecting my own reactions as possibly too subjective, I wouldn't post about this ski unless I'd gotten confirmation from at least one other respected reviewer or on the slope source, preferably more. In this case, there is the Yellow Gentian/Craig review of the Confession. which I found spot on, the hard way, by having to experience it myself. And there is also a Confession preliminary review, references to the ski here and there in his other fat ski reviews, and a telling lack of a promised follow-up, by Paul Forward, on Blistergear.com.
While it is smooth-riding and damp in variable below its speed limit, the Confession gets tossed, for me, in crud and rough variable at substantially lower speeds than I would like, and I'm not a super charger. (See confirming review:
https://www.yellowgentian.com/ski-r...ession#craig-s-review-advanced-freeride-skier.)
I'm guessing the Confession handles a bit like a cross between the Shiro and the Katana (not having skied the Shiro), as @BC. posted. I seem to recall folks telling me that soft or powder bumps were not the Shiro's strength, nor are they the Confession's. (While the V-Werks Katana excels at both soft bumps and open powder slope skiing.)
The shape of the Confession seemed very similar to the V-Werks Katana, especially in the tip and tail rise. I did not find they skied the same, however, at least for a guy around 150 lbs and 5'10" (nor for the Yellow Gentian reviewer at around 180 lbs. and 6'1"). And the problem was not the tune: I had a chance to re-do the tune on the Confession several times, including the base flatness just to be sure. Nor was it the mounting point. I put Marker Schizos on all my wider skis so that I can change the mount position forward and back repeatedly on the same day.
Yellow Gentian/Craig's problems with the ski were its maneuverability in powder bumps and its dampness in variable. These were both problems I can confirm: the Confession was nowhere near as manueverable as the Katana, and yet, approaching its definite speed limit, it started to get tossed - again, earlier and more than the V-Werks Katana (or the Pettitors or Bibbys).
The third problem I noticed with my Confessions had to do with edge release in powder/variable (not on groomers, a bit of soft or very consistent powder surfaces). Its edge caught unpredictably in some irregular powder conditions, and I stumbled now and then when I needed to have it break loose - in high up, wind drift powder conditions, for example. This forced me to be careful instead of intuitive.
Confirming my reaction here, somewhat, is the second Confession review - or lack thereof - as mentioned, that comes from Blistergear.com. Their Alaska heli and resort reviewer, Paul Forward, after a glowing preliminary review, promised a follow up on the Confession based on lots of skiing in Alaska. This follow-up was delayed for the entire season, with small references to the limitations of the Confession coming throughout the year in his other ski reviews. Apparently he was sort of following the old adage, "If you can't say something nice about something, don't say anything at all." From his Confession references here and there, I gather the main thing this Alaska reviewer didn't seem to like was the lack of edge release/ease of drift and trustworthiness with this ski to break loose from its edgehold charge when needed, in some powder and variable - or to be thus more intuitive in a drift when needed. That reviewer liked other skis better in both resorts and heli-tripping. While he had a pair of Confessions to evaluate, he found himself favoring other skis as the season progressed.
I've experienced that occasionally, in wind-drifted powder especially but at times elsewhere, the Confession would get hung-up on its edge grip unpredictably. It was like a check, stumble or tripping, something I'd have to recover from and take into account with a safety margin going forward. I've had no such problems with many other skis (Katanas, Pettitors, Bibbys, Automatics, etc.).
