REASONS TO BUY
Pulls hard into turns
Nimble
Good at moderate speed
REASONS TO AVOID
Problems with the soft tip at high speeds
Tail breaks loose too easily
Kastle Paragon 93 Review
This ski is a departure from the demanding all-mountain offerings from Kastle, with more of a playful design that's less solid at high speed
The Kastle Paragon 93 is a solid option for lightweight, intermediate to advanced skiers. But unlike Kastle skis of the past, it's much less stable at high speed.
Credit: Marc Rotse
By Bobby Garrett ⋅ Review Editor ⋅ November 14, 2025
Our Verdict
The Kastle Paragon 93 contains some innovative technology that's on-brand with Kastle skis we've tested in the past. However, unlike those other skis, it was tough to ski the Paragon 93 with precision. This story is best told from the tail, which tended to break loose easily, regardless of the turn shape, speed, or snow conditions. This is a positive for skiers who want to smear turns at moderate speed, and certainly makes the Paragon 93 more playful than what's traditional of a Kastle ski. We rejoiced in the familiar way this ski pulls you into the turn, and appreciated a lighter swing weight in the tip. While the new Paragon family of skis retains some of the familiar features, it's a departure from the FX line that it replaces.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Kastle continues to save weight and expand maneuverability with their Hollowtech 2.0 technology. Along with a low camber and their Infini Core Free – which combines poplar, beech, and paulownia wood with titanal – the Paragon 93 has a unique light-yet-confident feeling at slow and moderate speeds, which is consistent with its claimed weight of only 8.4 pounds per pair, which is lower than average in our tests. However, this ski also comes with a higher-than-average price tag, as we have come to expect from Kastle.
Although this ski is made with technologies designed to keep it feeling light, it comes at the expense of stability.
Credit: Marc Rotse
Stability at Speed
Kastle's ski construction for the Paragon 93 features a semi-cap sandwich sidewall, designed to save weight while enhancing ski playfulness. Combined with its triple woodcore (poplar, beech, and paulownia) that's supported by two sheets of titanal, we were hoping to experience a uniquely stable ski with a lightweight personality. Unfortunately, the reality was that the tip of the Paragon 93 easily lost edge contact at high speed, which left us feeling unstable at speed.
A confident skier can still rip a turn with the Paragon 93, but there are other skis we tested that will help you go fast and off-piste with more confidence.
Credit: Marc Rotse
Carving Ability
The Paragon 93 is comfortable making shallow-angle carves and smears at moderate speeds, which is a more accessible departure from the Kastle norm. This ski prefers short and medium-length turns, despite its listed 18.2-meter turn radius. Our testers commented that it was challenging to maintain a clean carve on the Paragon 93, as the ski would tend to lose edge grip behind the rear binding and break into a skid somewhere in the middle of the turn. This can be fun for skiers who are cruising the groomers and making smeared turns at low to moderate speeds. But frontside carvers should not expect much performance from the Paragon 93.
This ski prefers to smear and “skarve” (skid-carve) on the groomers.
Credit: Marc Rotse
Powder Performance
Like carving, the Paragon 93 floated best at low to moderate speeds, where the ski could flex gradually through light powder. At higher speeds and in denser Sierra Cement, the lightweight tip would collapse under our momentum, causing us to lurch forward and lose speed. While the Paragon performed best in shallow, light powder on steeper slopes, its performance is highly dependent on slope angle and snow density.
At lower speeds and on the right pitch, this ski is still a lot of fun in powder.
Credit: Marc Rotse
Crud Performance
The features that make the Paragon 93 fun for cruising are at odds when skiing crud. Despite weight-saving technologies and a visibly thinner construction, the portion of the ski directly in front of your bindings feels oddly heavy. Our testers noted that the Paragon 93 was particularly challenging to pivot and maneuver through adverse snow conditions. We found the most success with this ski when we tried wider and more gradual turns, a luxury that you aren't always afforded in snow that knocks you around.
We lost quite a bit of confidence when the snow got heavy and chewed up, which is often the case by the end of the day in Mammoth.
Credit: Marc Rotse
Terrain Playfulness
Playing with natural terrain features is perhaps the Paragon 93's strongest suit. Rolling and undulating terrain offered us enough space to make the smeared turns this ski excels at. Weighing 8.4 pounds per pair, the Paragon 93 is among the lightest skis in our lineup. Combined with a low-camber profile – which is very obvious when you look at this ski next to a highly cambered model – the Paragon 93 is easy to maneuver in smooth off-piste snow.
This ski's light and nimble feel makes it fun for exploring little hits on the side of the trail.
Credit: Bobby Garrett
Bumps
Moguls are manageable with the Paragon 93, but it's not ideal. Its relatively narrow 93-millimeter waist width and low camber profile allow this ski to pivot easily. However, the main issue is that the Paragon 93's pivot point seemed too far forward, which made it difficult to smear, despite its tendency to have a loose tail. We found ourselves shopping for the right bump rather than skiing a zipper line with confidence.
The oddly placed pivot point kept us on our toes and made it difficult to ski moguls with any accuracy.
Credit: Marc Rotse
Should You Buy the Kastle Paragon 93?
The Paragon 93 is a suitable choice for lighter-weight skiers who prefer cruising at low to moderate speeds or those seeking an all-mountain ski that offers a bit more playfulness. With a uniquely nimble edge-to-edge feel, this ski is a solid choice for a groomer cruiser who occasionally explores smooth off-piste conditions.
What Other Skis Should You Consider?
For folks who loved the burly and stable ride of older Kastle models, the Volkl Mantra M7 is a powerful, yet highly versatile all-mountain ski. The Fischer Ranger 96 is similarly lightweight and playful when compared to the Paragon 93, but it's more fun across the mountain – not to mention, a bit more affordable.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Kastle Paragon 93 versus top competing products:
—Bobby Garrett
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