A3 Vs. Vapor

[Ilivetoski]

So today I skied on something other than a Radar for the first time in 5 years. It was a lime green HO A3. I was very impressed. It was the only ski I have ever skied on that I have gone up the line into 32 off on my first set. The A3 felt a lot like my vapor in certain aspects but others not so much. One thing that I thought was interesting about the green- I think that the top piece of the A3 is a LOT more reflective. As I was coming into 1 ball all I could see was a green glare coming from under me. That part I was not crazy about but if I were to ski on this ski I would get the black and red version.

HO notes:

1. The first thing that I noticed was that when on edge it felt just as comfortable as my vapor. If neither had any graphics at that point I wouldnt be able to tell a difference.

2. speed- I do not think the A3 is as fast as my vapor. I felt like I had to work a lot more to get to the buoy.

3. This is the reason I wanted to try this ski- how the tip stays down in the water at the buoy. When I am coming into the buoy I just felt the ski get down, stay down and slow down. For having 61 degree water temp, the amount it slowed down was amazing.

4. The turns are crazy smooth. Also crazy forgiving. I had a 4 ball at 28 that my hips were nearly in the water because I got so far on the back of the ski and I felt like the ski just said "ok were going to wait a second for you to get back up then were going". It was crazy some of the mistakes I made and still got away with the pass. When I say the turns are smooth they just seem to crave an arc and there is no jerk, you dont feel like the ski "snapped" around but it does, and you get tons of angle. The turns are just fun.

5. I felt like to get wide of the buoy I had to pull longer than I did on my Vapor. This is probably just a result of it not being as fast.

 

In the end for me, the Vapor wins. I love the speed, stability, and turns that it gives me. It definitely is not as forgiving nor are the turns as smooth, but I personally feel more confident with the speed of the Vapor. The A3 is definitely one of the top 3 skis I have ever ridden, and next time I am in the market for a ski I will take a big look at HO.

[gregy]

I heard HO was discontinuing the A3 in favor of the VTYPE