HO Alpha

[Carl]

I have a HO Alpha on the way to try. Anybody skiing on this ski?

[lpskier]

I skied on an Alpha this spring. Nice ski. Great off side turn.

[thager]

Am always curious if the offside turn statement is made by LFF or RFF skiers. Hmmmm?

[BraceMaker]

@thager ... Yes.

[Steven_Haines]

@thager , I can speak for a rff skier, my answer would be that it turns hard on both sides and makes width very easily. I’m on an ‘18 EVO that I Love, but had I tried the Alpha first I would never have tried the EVO.

Don’t get me wrong, Love my EVO!

[thager]

My point on the offside turn statement is if a ski is not LFF or RFF specific the statement seems a bit ambiguous.Really need to know for whom. LFF or RFF skier?

[lpskier]

@thager I am LFF.

[thager]

@lpskier Thanks!

[BraceMaker]

@thager basically is your posit that there are some symmetrical skis that are better for RFF skiers specifically for a 1 ball offside turn?

[thager]

Not exactly, just that designers of symmetrical skis don't design skis just for offside turns. I hear all the time that a certain symmetrical ski has a great offside turn but don't know which offside that offside turn is for. I am LFF. When selecting a ski it would help me to know that the offside turn on this particular ski is good for LFF skiers.

[BraceMaker]

That's a confusing thought.

 

If I somehow could design just half a ski just for a RFF offside and mirror it shouldn't it be just as good for a LFF offside? In isolation both of these turns should be identical.

 

The only thing making them not identical would be the intrinsic assymmetric nature of the slalom course. Unless I am missing something about the comment. I've never known a ski that universally was disliked by LFF skiers.

[thager]

HO Truth! And RFF too! I give up!

[TravisNW]

I’m rff and ski the Alpha. I started the season on a 66” A3 which has been my favorite ski since it was released, I’ve skied every other HO between then and now. I tried both the 66” Pro and Alpha, I took 10 sets on the pro and really liked it, and then another 10 on the Alpha which I liked as well. The Alpha was very smooth and easy for me to ski on. Around June I switched back to the pro for a few weeks because I thought it might transition edge to edge through the wakes better. What it came down to is with the Alpha I was able to carry momentum from the turn better and in general I’m more consistent (most turns are alike) on the Alpha. All my 38 off passes for the year have been on this ski.

[mcskier41]

@TravisNW : Have you skied the '18 H0 VTX? how does it compare to the Alpha?

[TravisNW]

@mcskier41 sorry for delayed response! Yes I skied the VTX. Personally I prefer the Alpha to the VTX and Pro. The VTX is a tail sliding ski, I liked it at but tended to blow the tail and got higher scores on the A3 ( I skied on the A3 for 4 years, I just kept going back to it). The Pro I tend to overturn although it does edge change nicely and I used it for part of the season because of this. For me the Alpha is the smoothest and most consistent turning ski, it’s very fast and fun. I can ski my smoothest passes on it but it also works in scramble mode. That said HO has 3 top end skis (Alpha, Pro, Omega) depending skier style different people will find a favorite. I haven’t skied the Omega yet. All the skis are great quality obviously and HO’s R&D budget has allowed them and their skiers to craft an array of top skis. All three of these skis were used in pro tournaments throughout the year.