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I ski my Ravens and Hojis a lot inbounds. A lot. Any day it’s pretty soft I’m typically on one of those skis as they are what I enjoy most. I ski the Ravens lots on low-tide, icy days as well. I think they’re epic resort skis.
And ya they ski a bit short. But awesome.
Just sold some other pow skis. Keeping the binders from them for some new 2024 Rens.
Would love to see the new topsheets for Rens/Hojis/Ravens for next year??
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I have J Friend's. They're damp and heavy.Quote:
Originally Posted by rfconroy
I would definitely tour on the Hoji's, also.
My skis are 184-186 right now. The Hoji's are a totally different ski from anything in my quiver. I'm always looking to ski something different. I'm inclined to go longer.
Someone please buy these $200 once-mounted Ravens so I don't: https://sidelineswap.com/gear/skiing...thout-bindings
For those on 4-Lock versions...have you had any issues with the skins? All I've heard is good things until this weekend - my partner met someone who's had the tail attachment fail multiple times and require sewing fixes
sample size of 1, but I've never had an issue with my 4-Lock skins
Quote:
Originally Posted by TripleT
Nor have I - system works great.
The DIY system I did also works awesome - the How-To guide is in the link in my signature
No issues with 4-Lock for me, and its one of the reasons I stuck with 4FRNT for fatter pow sticks. I'm not the most delicate with my skins so the extra purchase of the 4-Lock has eliminated a whole host of problems I had with other skis either coming off or not sticking later in the day when glue got frozen.
Four lock has been totally bomber - so good.
Anyone else found that ravens ski way better with a softer boot? After a couple days where I struggled to find the balance point on the ravens, I was messing around with other boot/ski combos and found that my old-ass Vulcans w/o tongues were, by far, better with the ravens than Vulcans with tongues and ZGTPs buckled for “performance” ie pretty tight. Mind you, this was on roughed up groomers thanks to a round of freezing rain, not powder. Next step is to mess with zgtps to try to make then ski a bit softer.
Anyone else had the soft boot experience with these?
I’ve switched this year to a Nordica Strider 120 from Head Kore 130 and Dalbello Krytpon 130…..
I’ve found the Ravens awesome in all conditions with both boots. Though with my Zipfit workhorse liners the Striders have stiffened up a bit so maybe not a huge difference.
Also my 4-lock skins seem fine. Love how small and packable they are.
Ravens are great skis.
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I swap back and forth between skiing my Ravens with a Scarpa Quattro XT and a Scarpa F1 LT. The Quattros are usually what I bring when I travel, or if I’m skiing BC and the resort in the same day. But most of the time I’m on my F1’s, just because I’m lazy and really prefer the better ROM.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andyski
I find the F1 LT gives me better snow feel than the Quattro, and the slightly more upright stance, both of which are better for skiing “Hoji style”. Originally I thought the F1 LT would be too little boot for this ski, but I was wrong, they go together quite well, and I’m not a small guy. (6’ ~190lbs)
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It took a while to figure it out why the Ravens only felt good in easy snow but what I found was that I’m really sensitive to ramp angle. Once I put a shim under the toe to make the ramp basically flat the change was remarkable. I also made sure that they were flat and the base bevels were right. Now they’re point and shoot regardless of boot stiffness.
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What boots/bindings?Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnificentUnicorn
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I’ve got Vipecs on mine with a 5 mm toe shim. They ski well with Lupo 130Cs and Salomon MTN Explores
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Got it! 2 pretty upright boots.Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnificentUnicorn
I skied mine last night inbounds to test out a new boot liner, 1st gen hawx xtd with backland bindings, and they skied amazing. 35 cm overnight that had all been skied out by the time i got there so it was a mix of soft bumps, fresh patches, and hard snow troughs/sections. I don't get many touring days in these days and forgot how much I love these skis. Has me wondering what is the inbounds version of the raven is. FR110, rockered volkl, mfree108? Time to do some reading.
Of the current hoji line up, I think the Raven is the most OG EHP-like - stiffer ends, more flat vs full rocker.
The two bigger “ravens” these days I’d guess are HL FR110 (but haven’t skied) and SGN Togga. I’ve got a big 194 Togga, don’t use it much but it does rock.
I found the less tapered, more splayed (and softer) tips on the newer gen Rens to sometimes hang up in deep or heavier snow. You gotta stay very centered.
It looks like Heritage Labs limited release r105 is a Raven with a freeride layup. Very close in shape but with a stout layup
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Saw those, they and all the HL skis look interesting. Mount point would be further back than where I have my ravens at -7.5. Not in a rush this year, have enough skis for the ski days I'll get (blasphemy I know)
Data points from sample of 1: zgtps in more upright setting + shimmed ATK raiders + gfts liners = way too upright for this ski for me. Unbalanced, harsh, rarely slarvable, rocking horse. Put a shim behind my calf and backed off the buckle tightness and all was well. Was able to slarve through saturated snow, wiggle around wet groomers and generally stay in a strong position without having to think about it. Still need the pow test, but i think I’ve got it now. What first lit these up was skiing Vulcans without tongues, which are both softer and more forward lean than the zgtps.
Been skiing the Renegades (191) for the most of the early season. Had only a few tours with the Ravens (190), mostly in the worst conditions of the winter, in which they've been the reliable tool they are. Yesterday I got on the small skis again for some very pleasurable mellow tree wiggling and was reminded for no logical reason of this run from last March in some of the best snow I've skied.
Perhaps serves as a data point if someone's skeptical of the Ravens in deep snow and pondering. I had plenty of room and pitch to let them run, though. Would like to ski the Rens in these conditions too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Yjy-hMBCg
Picked up a pair of 184 Ravens last week and got them out for a couple days of touring this weekend. Super fun in the soft snow we encountered (duh), predictable and fun wind affected firm, predictable on breakable crust, got me down sun affected melty bullshit (my quads gave me more issue than the skis). Needless to say, am a fan. Easy on the skintrack and the 4lock skins rule!
Just to add some points on ramp. I got the updated Hoji recently and did the same binding mount I've done for my last few skis: OG Ravens, Down CD5s. I've use a radical toe and the ATK FR14 heel (original) mounted straight to the ski with no adjustment track.
Pin ramp is around 5.5mm.
I've done various boot mods previously to make sure I could get forward (like running a booster instead of a top buckle on ZGTP).
For this year I switched to a light-lupo/heavy-lupo boot quiver and took the Hojis out with my heavy boot at the resort.
With that 5mm of ramp, I just couldn't flex the boot.
So instead of redrilling for the track, I just modified an old B&D toe shim I have to put under the heel at 6.5mm. 12mm total pin ramp.
Measured internal boat board ramp against a Pivot. Pivot = 5deg New pin ramp = 6deg.
Much better. All this to say is consider measuring your boots in alpine bindings and then mocking up your pin binding shims to match.
Oh, and New Hojis and 4Lock rules. New Ravens will be mine someday.
This is prob the best spot for this... Latest Blister Gear 30 podcast, there was a tease for a new 4frnt BC ski that will be coming out - lighter, more versatile (some camber, less sidecut). I'm really hoping for a Down CD104L clone, since the reemerged Down brought that ski back totally different. In short... 1500-1550 gr ski, 100ish waist, 2-3mm of camber, long and low tip and tail rocker, moderately stiff. Super versatile, can go pretty far. We'll see!
Is there any more info out there on this that I missed?
The Raven is pretty perfect for general purpose ski touring, not interested in camber because the Raven has great edge hold
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MORE sidecut not v.v. is what was said.Quote:
Originally Posted by tang
Did you get the shims from B&D? Also, what size screws did you go with?Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnificentUnicorn
I can’t remember, I just measured the screws and added 5 mm. I got some long panhead ski screws and cut them shorter iirc.Quote:
Originally Posted by meepmoop24
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Yeah, interested in what they put out, but it's hard to imagine wanting something similar width to the raven, but not the raven. At least for wild snow, where flat camber is the best camber.
Hoj is the high priest of reverse camber, but happy to be surprised.
I do feel like ultralight construction is something the bigger brands handle better, with increased engineering resources.
Today reminded me that the raven is such a weapon in bad snow
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How’s the raven at slow speeds? Would it work as a girlfriend learning to ski ski or is it happier at speed?
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I think it's fine at slow speeds, but might be a bit stiff and center mounted for a beginner, IMO
Anyone have actual measured weights for the newer Ravens? It seems like when they came out the weights were listed as in the 1600s, now its 1830/1890 in the 184/190 lengths..
I should have been more clear. They’d be for me, tagging along with a beginnerQuote:
Originally Posted by Backward_Banana
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They’re fine for that. I’m considering mounting my blue and white Ravens with STHs for low tide lift served and getting a new 4lock pair with Alpinists to take over touring duty.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeachesNCream
They’re fine noodling around or hauling ass.
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As someone who’s teached a significant other to ski. Generally the beefier skis are better for teaching since you can’t actually ski fast enough to enjoy sidecut anyway. Long radius skis with short slarves is also great technical practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeachesNCream
My 184cm 2022 ravens weigh 1794 and 1788. Old blue and white ones were similar. I’ve never heard 1600g being toted anywhere.
Yeah, Ravens aren’t super light but that’s what makes them ski so well. For me they have a really nice snow feel, damp and quite stable for their weight. The carbon Heritage Lab skis have a very similar feel to me.
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How’d that go? Any tips?Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_pretzel
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Thanks, that’s kind of the sweet spot IMO. But since manufacturers regularly under all their weights I don’t want to be surprised with a 1950g ski..Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_pretzel
Wild Snow from a few years ago says 1600, and I’ve heard it repeated multiple times.
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They're pretty boring when you're making smaller/shorter turns.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeachesNCream
They're happiest when making big arching turns and shutting it down with a slarve. Id personally opt for a more noodly option if youre going that route, like a vision 98/108, still a great ski, but much more playful and happier at slower speeds
I was about to chime in and say absolutely not...but then I saw your note that they'd be for YOU.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeachesNCream
I think they could work there. They seem very fun to slide around at low speeds in the right snow. Lots of room to just pivot around and *not* carve and keep the speed in check, good for catching little stashes on the side or dipping in and out of the mellow trees while the GF skis the middle of the blue groomer. They aren't great in every condition, but presumably you could pull another ski from the quiver if you knew it was gonna be boilerplate or some other unfavorable condition for the Raven.
Depending on the GF's level, if you're actually *teaching* and not just skiing with a GF who is learning, they might not be the ideal ski for demonstrating technique. You ski them pretty differently from most "normal" skis, so between the stance and the tendency to slarve, it would not be a great "teaching ski" for doing things like exaggerated parallel linked turns at a relatively slow pace.
Not that you can't do teaching turns...I put these down on sunday with my Ravens in some thick mashed potatoes that didn't allow for anything besides railroad tracks:
Attachment 493244
But there's a reason most instructors of non-advanced skiers are grabbing something relatively narrow with a decently short radius.