Hey guys. I haven’t had a whole lot of time with the ALPs, but there are some unmistakable characteristics of both the hard and soft ALPs that I love so much I feel I can talk about them.
Concerning bumps, uneven terrain, and moguls: The ALPs are great because you can choose to flow with terrain, using your knees and shifting your balance to ride whales, moguls, and drift through the trees. When you don’t feel like working with the terrain, just go over it! The boards are long enough and flex enough that you can keep your knees loose and absorb the impact of choppy lines without wobbling all over the place or getting thrown. Your speed also is maintained and increases while doing this as well.
Crud: I don’t think the ALPs are so great at cutting through crud, but they get the job done. This is coming from a guy who used Woodies, which cut right through like nothing at all. Honestly, more experience is needed to make an unbiased call on this one.
Powder: The only powder I’ve gotten to ride through is New England early season powder, and I was dodging trees, so I can’t really talk too much about that. I did hit a line at Bolton through the trees, and there were a few drops (about 5 feet) which the boards landed no issue at all. That was something somewhat new for me, though. Definitely had more float than my 99s, which I actually thought handled powder pretty well themselves.
Speed: Properly tuned, your ALPs are fast. Not gonna be breaking any records, but on steeper runs you’ll be passing people.
Bottom line: ALPs are great all-mountain skiboards, which I think perform best on dynamic terrain (steep, curving, choppy).
Rider – Brian – Expert Skiboarder
