how do they grip on well used skintracks with all that rocker? I’m trying to decide between the BC and the wootest and I’m having a really hard time!
Like any rockered ski, they do grip less than a fully cambered one. I’ve had a few pairs of pretty rockered setups I skin on at this point and they’re certainly not any worse than the others. I’d say they’re better than Armada JJs for sure in that regard. The Backcountry model is certainly more of a jack of all trades, where the wootest is more the master of some.
These sound a lot like my EHP’s. Now that 4FRNT doesn’t make those with the minimal sidecut, I’ve been looking for an eventual replacement. Have you skied EHP’s, and are these as similar as they sound?
Hi Kevin.
I’m looking for soft snow BC skis to be set up with dynafits.Mainly to be used as my primary bc touring ski around Niseko.About me level 3 instructor that likes to carve every turn.I did demo 13/14 4frnt hoji and iI would like to know what You have to say about woo test 2.0 compare to hoji
Agh, you guys are killin me. I haven’t skied any of the newer 4frnt stuff so I’m useless for a comparison with those two. Maciej: are talking about the very first gen EHPs?
Mike: if you’re touring around Niseko, (and correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve never been there) you’re in a lot of powder, pretty much all the time right? You can make any shape turn you want in fresh snow, carving included. It’s only on the hardpack in tight places that you’ll need to slide these around a bit. But this is very much a powder ski.
Kevin,
I was talking about the 2010-2011 model. I’ve skied them on everything from chalk at A-Basin to glare ice to thigh deep powder, and I’ve found their performance across the board to be exceptional. I feel like the tapered tip and tail, paired with the 40m sidecut allows them to have all of the benefits of a rockered ski in powder without giving up edgehold (esp. on ice) or torsional integrity (esp. in chop/mank).
Your desciption of the WooTests comes the closest to my experiences on my EHP’s, whereas it sounds like the new Hojis are a different animal.
Maciej, while I don’t know anything about the Wootest, a buddy of mine describes the 196 Renegade as performing better/more predictable on hard snow when compared to the 193 EHPs (he’s owned each for a couple of years as his only ski). He’s no slouch either – runs a big mountain program. So, it’s not strictly the lack of rocker on the EHP. I would think the Hoji would perform similarly, though it’s a bit softer.
@Kevin
Thanks for this nice work.
If I could help you:
– don’t change the 2.0 tip
The idea to keep it so neutral Is marvellous
– change a little bit the stance of the bindings
For me keith Is too classical on this point
47.5 / 48% will offer easier slides, turn initiation ans the front rocker will jeep the top on the top
– take the tail profile of concept or BPS >> same lenght of edge on hard snow With less power when it’s soft
Love your idea of Combine grip and neutral feeling With this long radius
Greetings,
Quick question about Praxis skis in general:
In my park phase of skiing I copped a pair of Armada AR6’s. I loved them to death but the decals were just laid on as a single top sheet with no protection. As a result, the decals began to peel off after half a season of usage. Now, both skies are decal-less. I am nervous that Praxis may have a similar type of decal application.
Have you heard of any issues with peeling decals on Praxis skies?
Praxis has never used decals for their topsheet graphics. They’re not going anywhere.
You mentioned “the one single ultimate BC ski” already being out there, curious as to which ski (skis) you were referring to? Thanks for the review and all the work to get these sticks out there, very happy you guys kept it up and got out the 2.0, I’ll most likely be picking up a pair this summer!
Hey Loren. When I mentioned other skis as a single ultimate BC I didn’t mean any particular ski, just ones designed to ski on corn and harder snow better. Mostly that means something with sidecut and a wider tip to drive with more traditional technique. There are quite a few of this ilk (traditional sidecut, a rockered tip, maybe a slightly rockered tail) that ski soft snow fairly well but not as well as something like the wootest, which also handles baked warm wet natural snow much much better. That’s all I meant by that.
how do they grip on well used skintracks with all that rocker? I’m trying to decide between the BC and the wootest and I’m having a really hard time!
Like any rockered ski, they do grip less than a fully cambered one. I’ve had a few pairs of pretty rockered setups I skin on at this point and they’re certainly not any worse than the others. I’d say they’re better than Armada JJs for sure in that regard. The Backcountry model is certainly more of a jack of all trades, where the wootest is more the master of some.
These sound a lot like my EHP’s. Now that 4FRNT doesn’t make those with the minimal sidecut, I’ve been looking for an eventual replacement. Have you skied EHP’s, and are these as similar as they sound?
Hi Kevin.
I’m looking for soft snow BC skis to be set up with dynafits.Mainly to be used as my primary bc touring ski around Niseko.About me level 3 instructor that likes to carve every turn.I did demo 13/14 4frnt hoji and iI would like to know what You have to say about woo test 2.0 compare to hoji
Agh, you guys are killin me. I haven’t skied any of the newer 4frnt stuff so I’m useless for a comparison with those two. Maciej: are talking about the very first gen EHPs?
Mike: if you’re touring around Niseko, (and correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve never been there) you’re in a lot of powder, pretty much all the time right? You can make any shape turn you want in fresh snow, carving included. It’s only on the hardpack in tight places that you’ll need to slide these around a bit. But this is very much a powder ski.
Kevin,
I was talking about the 2010-2011 model. I’ve skied them on everything from chalk at A-Basin to glare ice to thigh deep powder, and I’ve found their performance across the board to be exceptional. I feel like the tapered tip and tail, paired with the 40m sidecut allows them to have all of the benefits of a rockered ski in powder without giving up edgehold (esp. on ice) or torsional integrity (esp. in chop/mank).
Your desciption of the WooTests comes the closest to my experiences on my EHP’s, whereas it sounds like the new Hojis are a different animal.
Maciej, while I don’t know anything about the Wootest, a buddy of mine describes the 196 Renegade as performing better/more predictable on hard snow when compared to the 193 EHPs (he’s owned each for a couple of years as his only ski). He’s no slouch either – runs a big mountain program. So, it’s not strictly the lack of rocker on the EHP. I would think the Hoji would perform similarly, though it’s a bit softer.
@Kevin
Thanks for this nice work.
If I could help you:
– don’t change the 2.0 tip
The idea to keep it so neutral Is marvellous
– change a little bit the stance of the bindings
For me keith Is too classical on this point
47.5 / 48% will offer easier slides, turn initiation ans the front rocker will jeep the top on the top
– take the tail profile of concept or BPS >> same lenght of edge on hard snow With less power when it’s soft
Love your idea of Combine grip and neutral feeling With this long radius
Greetings,
Quick question about Praxis skis in general:
In my park phase of skiing I copped a pair of Armada AR6’s. I loved them to death but the decals were just laid on as a single top sheet with no protection. As a result, the decals began to peel off after half a season of usage. Now, both skies are decal-less. I am nervous that Praxis may have a similar type of decal application.
Have you heard of any issues with peeling decals on Praxis skies?
Praxis has never used decals for their topsheet graphics. They’re not going anywhere.
You mentioned “the one single ultimate BC ski” already being out there, curious as to which ski (skis) you were referring to? Thanks for the review and all the work to get these sticks out there, very happy you guys kept it up and got out the 2.0, I’ll most likely be picking up a pair this summer!
Hey Loren. When I mentioned other skis as a single ultimate BC I didn’t mean any particular ski, just ones designed to ski on corn and harder snow better. Mostly that means something with sidecut and a wider tip to drive with more traditional technique. There are quite a few of this ilk (traditional sidecut, a rockered tip, maybe a slightly rockered tail) that ski soft snow fairly well but not as well as something like the wootest, which also handles baked warm wet natural snow much much better. That’s all I meant by that.