nilsy wrote: Altai Skis is having its annual ski festival (Hoks and Koms) at Sitzmark on January 20th this season. Sitzmark is a small ski hill nestled in the Okanogan Highlands of NE WA. We kind of takeover that day. Lots of demos, pointers, tours. Don Portman comes over and helps out along with our local crew.
We are also doing a Hok demo/instruction at 49* north on January 6th at the nordic center.
YES! AWESOME! I will definitely try to make it out there on the 20th next month and I'll bring the KOMs. Things have been slow on your blog, I'm happy to hear this event is still on!
Hopefully others. I'd like to come, but will be busy both days. Does Mountain Gear do any demos of these?
It isn't the NNNBC boot (Alaska) or binding (Magnum) that I am unhappy with- it is the fact that the adapter plate effectively acts as a riser.
I don't like it- especially with a soft leather XC boot.
I wish that the Hok had a full-wrap steel edge. After only half a season on my Hoks, they are showing significant wear on the tips- above the steel edge.
As a bushwacking ski, the Hok would be a lot more durable with a full-wrap steel edge.
Did the updated Hok get a full-wrap steel edge? Not sure.
The details image half-way down this page on Altai's site says the updated Hok does have full steel edges: "full steel edges on all Hoks". But several photos below it on the same page show a Hok 147 with partial edges(?).
I have previous gen 145cm Hok- the steel edges are the same, they extend to the base of the raised tip.
So- I pulled the NNNBC binding off my Hoks last night, and re-mounted the X-Trace universal binding.
It is not that I didn't like NNNBC on this ski.
I eventually decided that I wanted the versatility of the universal binding- especially when I take the Hok to work.
Also- although I like my XC boot on this ski- I was not crazy about the riser plate (the adapter plate).
Some more observations on this ski.
This ski is wide- and therefore, if one wants to be able to hold it on edge you really need a 3-pin binding on it, so that one can use a proper Telemark boot. If I used this ski in truly mountainous terrain- I would put a 3-pin-cable binding on it.
That being said you can ride all kinds of wonderful turns on this ski with XC boots, if the snow is deep and soft.
The use of single pole ("Tiak") has been a wonderful learning experience. It can be used as an outrigger to improve stability; a tripod of balance; and can also be used as a brake. In fact, with a Tiak I can actually ski down so pretty extreme slopes- even with XC boots on!
I just checked the Altai website. No reference to 2017-18 season, and skis at the US store seems to be "out of stock". Anyone know what's the matter?
Hoks are currently out of stock.
They're fun, they've fueled the urge to go with something that will let me expand my horizons. I plan on putting a 3 pin binding on them as I find the universal binding isn't adequate enough to fully utilize them. I've used the lurk and it gives an added degree of confidence as well. My wife tried them last year and had fun so I'm contemplating a pair of 125's for her.
Looks like they are now back in stock in the Canadian store - just ordered two pairs and can't wait to give em a try!