the-alpha-one
The Alpha 1: Armada’s Revolutionary Park Ski Hits Stores This Weekend
By Pip Hunt
“The evolution has begun,” claims Jeff Russell, marketing director at Armada. After the entire Armada team hailed the JJ as this year’s best ski, and with Tanner Hall throwing 9’s in the pipe on the powder ski, the Costa Mesa, California-based company decided to bring rocker technology to the park scene. The Alpha 1, the first-ever reverse camber park ski, will be released in limited numbers this weekend to select shops around the country.
“The reverse camber dramatically enhances the ability to butter jumps and press rails and boxes,” says Russell, “and it allows a hardcore park ski to perform better in softer snow than ever before.”
Using Armada’s new “Elf Shoe Technology,” the Alpha 1 has a rockered tip and tail, yet still has camber and sidecut underfoot, which gives the ski the control and responsiveness necessary in a park ski. The “Elf Shoe Technology” gives the Alpha 1 the same contact points as a traditional ski, allowing for precise edge control but more play. “Elf Shoe Technology” also reverses the sidecut in the tip and tail, creating an unconventional ski shape, that is narrow at the waist, widens, and then narrows again at the tip and tail of the ski. Hence, the ski’s dimensions appear a tad askew: 96-113-83-102-87. The idea is to take you from soft snow to the pipe without sacrificing any control or maneuverability.
Jacob Wester, an Armada athlete who helped design the Alpha 1, has already won the first two major big air events of the season, freestyle.ch and Icer Air. Talk about natural selection.