The Raven - Hoji's New Masterpiece

[meepmoop24]

What width skins is everyone running on these? Was considering going 100mm and just doing straight cut, but could also go 120 and go W2W coverage.

[Stewy30]

What width skins is everyone running on these? Was considering going 100mm and just doing straight cut, but could also go 120 and go W2W coverage.

I think you’d want the wall to wall coverage, not being cambered makes the grip on firm and steep skin tracks a little more challenging on ravens and hojis I owned.

[STLHD]

100 worked fine for me.


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[xyz]

Just pulled the trigger on some Ravens with Tourlock skins. I’m just over 6’ but skinny, went with the 190’s. I have the 187 Hojis and they ski a little short for me so I felt like 184’s would be way too short.

The dimensions and weight of these look about perfect for what I’m looking for. Which is daily driver ski touring ski. I have the hojis for inbounds and near slack, ravens for touring and a light weight ski for death marches.

[altacoup]

If you like Hoji designs, you’re going to love them.


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[xyz]

If you like Hoji designs, you’re going to love them.


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I love the Hojis. You can tell there was quite a lot thought into the shape and camber. I think the tails could have been a little more tapered though as they get a little hooky sometimes.

Looks like the tourlocks are selling fast. Skis are ready but I’ve been told the skins are delayed waiting on components etc. Still at least a couple months before I’d be willing to ski new skis anyway.

[xyz]

Ok so I’ve got quite a few days on the Raven tourlocks. Both the 184 and 190’s with various mount points. AMA if needed.

[margotron]

Anything

[jacob_dbu]

Ok so I’ve got quite a few days on the Raven tourlocks. Both the 184 and 190’s with various mount points. AMA if needed.

Can you rip skins with skis on? Is tourlock worth it?

[SKIP IN7RO]

How is the McConkey turnMcConkey turnMcConnnkeeey turrrrrnnn?

[xyz]

Can you rip skins with skis on? Is tourlock worth it?

Yup.

Tourlock seems worth it to me. Cool feeling knowing your tail clip won’t come off, ever. Less useless skin material on the tails too.

[Andyski]

How loose do these things ski on different surfaces? On the pivoty to locked-in-feels-edge-high spectrum, these are????

[jacob_dbu]

Yup.

Tourlock seems worth it to me. Cool feeling knowing your tail clip won’t come off, ever. Less useless skin material on the tails too.

So how do you release the skin? You just push the thing thru the hole?

[strange meadow lark]

Also have the tourlock version. Sprung for them for the dumbest reason--my dog likes to step on my tails when she gets tired in deep snow. Now she can ride along all she wants and my skins stay on.

Functionality--they work. Its a pretty simple system, I can't really see a way they won't work outside of durability (remains to be seen of course). Only con is compatibility. Ripping with skis on is easy, the skins are just 10" closer to your hand and the process is the same. Stuffing tails in the snow for kick-turns is worry free. Good system--hope they are making replacements down the road.

In terms of pivoty vs loose--pivoty mostly. Plenty of ink spilled over raven, ren, hoji reviews. These seem to have a little more rocker (esp. in tail) then my rens, but ski pretty similar. Probably some of the most pivoty skis around when skiing balanced. However they can feel locked in if 1) not skiing from center and trying to use tip pressure rather then lateral movements to initiate turns, or 2) if you lightly tip them over and just try to run the radius. Others have said it better than me. Of all the Hoji models, I weirdly think the hoji is the best for actually locking in an edge even though its softer and slightly more rockered. The flex lets you load them up into a turn on edge better in my opinion.

[xyz]

^Where did you mount them? I went -1.5cm on both 190 and 184 as per Hoji BSL calc. Felt good for the 190. Might go to -0.5 cm for 184 tho.

[strange meadow lark]

^Where did you mount them? I went -1.5cm on both 190 and 184 as per Hoji BSL calc. Felt good for the 190. Might go to -0.5 cm for 184 tho.

I'm also using the Hoji BSL method, and I ended up somewhere between 0 and -0.5cm after converting to an easy to remember imperial fraction. My boots are usually 1 shell size bigger than Hoji uses for the calculation, so I usually end up about 0.5 back, and its worked well on all three models. The Hoji page mentions a sweet spot between 0 and -2, so you may not gain much from that 1 cm shift forward, especially if you have to drill for it.

Also FWIW, the factory stamped line was at least ~2cm rearward of what Hoji recs on a tape pull. I seem to remember in the past 4FRNT moving the factory lines slightly rearward from where Hoji likes them (I think 1st gen's of Rens at least). This makes some sense because Hoji uses a ~280 ish bsl for his line, and a more rearward mount may be more accessible to more customers. But I also had a mis-stamped pair of Hoji's that were like -5cm off. As with any skis, get the tape measure out.

[Banquo]

Also FWIW, the factory stamped line was at least ~2cm rearward of what Hoji recs on a tape pull. I seem to remember in the past 4FRNT moving the factory lines slightly rearward from where Hoji likes them (I think 1st gen's of Rens at least). This makes some sense because Hoji uses a ~280 ish bsl for his line, and a more rearward mount may be more accessible to more customers. But I also had a mis-stamped pair of Hoji's that were like -5cm off. As with any skis, get the tape measure out.

My Raven tour locks were stamped at 84cm from tail instead of 86cm. I wrote 4frnt to see if they changed the line and they said they were mis-marked - should be 86cm. My new Hoji’s were marked at 87.5cm vs 87cm. Always confirm line and measure before drilling.


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[tsk01]

I had a pair of the original design Hoji's (2014's I believe). Used them for resort skiing and some light touring. Really liked them and one of the few skis I wish I hung onto. The only thing I would sometimes wish for was something a bit narrower for quicker edge to edge and slightly better hard snow performance, but loved how easy and stable they were. The Raven seems to fit my desire for a narrower Hoji, but it's much much lighter than the OG Hoji. Back then they were 2000-2200g/ski depending on length. I see the Hoji's have a different construction now and are much lighter. Has anyone skied the original Hoji, the current lighter Hoji's and the Ravens? I really like the idea of the Raven's in terms of dimensions, but worried they will be too light for resort use. Maybe the new lighter Hoji's will be a good compromise between the originals that I wanted to feel a bit quicker but maintain that Hoji feel (stable but pivoty)? I really enjoyed the stability of the OG Hoji and worried the Raven, while shape wise appeals to me more, will just be too light. Thoughts?

[xyz]

I'm also using the Hoji BSL method, and I ended up somewhere between 0 and -0.5cm after converting to an easy to remember imperial fraction. My boots are usually 1 shell size bigger than Hoji uses for the calculation, so I usually end up about 0.5 back, and its worked well on all three models. The Hoji page mentions a sweet spot between 0 and -2, so you may not gain much from that 1 cm shift forward, especially if you have to drill for it.

Also FWIW, the factory stamped line was at least ~2cm rearward of what Hoji recs on a tape pull. I seem to remember in the past 4FRNT moving the factory lines slightly rearward from where Hoji likes them (I think 1st gen's of Rens at least). This makes some sense because Hoji uses a ~280 ish bsl for his line, and a more rearward mount may be more accessible to more customers. But I also had a mis-stamped pair of Hoji's that were like -5cm off. As with any skis, get the tape measure out.

I won’t re drill (toes only) unless absolutely necessary obviously. I’ve been ripping around the resort on them to really get a feel for the mount location. The 4 mins of backcountry turns a day is difficult to assess lol. They seem ok so far but it’s a little hard to engage the tips. I’ll probably just get used to where they are and leave it. If I could do it over I’d go -0.5 cm tho. Still need to measure my mount spot...

And no regrets switching to the 184 from the 190. They still haul ass but are lighter, easier to kick turn and fit better in the car and couloirs like this!

[Stewy30]

I had a pair of the original design Hoji's (2014's I believe). Used them for resort skiing and some light touring. Really liked them and one of the few skis I wish I hung onto. The only thing I would sometimes wish for was something a bit narrower for quicker edge to edge and slightly better hard snow performance, but loved how easy and stable they were. The Raven seems to fit my desire for a narrower Hoji, but it's much much lighter than the OG Hoji. Back then they were 2000-2200g/ski depending on length. I see the Hoji's have a different construction now and are much lighter. Has anyone skied the original Hoji, the current lighter Hoji's and the Ravens? I really like the idea of the Raven's in terms of dimensions, but worried they will be too light for resort use. Maybe the new lighter Hoji's will be a good compromise between the originals that I wanted to feel a bit quicker but maintain that Hoji feel (stable but pivoty)? I really enjoyed the stability of the OG Hoji and worried the Raven, while shape wise appeals to me more, will just be too light. Thoughts?

Hey man, I have (6’2”, 185 lb) skied the lighter red/white 195 hoji w/ shifts (my daily driver for resort + bc), the blue white raven 190 with dynafit ft, and 195 red/black hoji w adrenaline bindings.

The white/blue 190 ravens introduced me to the uniqueness and enjoyment of that ski shape and I sold most of my quiver because of it. I decided to trade them for red white hojis 195 as I wanted to use them for both resort and backcountry, and then threw shifts on them. I would have kept the ravens if I wasn’t short on cash flow, and still keep my eye out for full day tours (195s tougher for touring, and I mounted on the line). Not sure if I’d use them for resort, they are pretty light and despite loving the shape, I did get kicked around a bit more, but how much of that was touring boot + binding is hard for me to say.

I bought a used red/black 195 hoji with Adrenalin bindings, and they are way heavier than the red white, that binding doesn’t help. They were fun too, but despite the increase in stability, I found them more work than it was worth for me. But I think part of it was due to the boots (hawx xtd). I would back to back the two, and just found the lighter ski to be more fun for more of the day overall for my skiing style. It may be a different story if I was skiing on my old head raptors.

Red white hojis are my daily driver, praxis 9d8s for less than ideal conditions, and torn about what powder ski to buy, I do find for my weight and height (and probably mount point, on the line) there is a limit on the hojis in powder I find.

Hope that helps

[tsk01]

Hey man, I have (6’2”, 185 lb) skied the lighter red/white 195 hoji w/ shifts (my daily driver for resort + bc), the blue white raven 190 with dynafit ft, and 195 red/black hoji w adrenaline bindings.

The white/blue 190 ravens introduced me to the uniqueness and enjoyment of that ski shape and I sold most of my quiver because of it. I decided to trade them for red white hojis 195 as I wanted to use them for both resort and backcountry, and then threw shifts on them. I would have kept the ravens if I wasn’t short on cash flow, and still keep my eye out for full day tours (195s tougher for touring, and I mounted on the line). Not sure if I’d use them for resort, they are pretty light and despite loving the shape, I did get kicked around a bit more, but how much of that was touring boot + binding is hard for me to say.

I bought a used red/black 195 hoji with Adrenalin bindings, and they are way heavier than the red white, that binding doesn’t help. They were fun too, but despite the increase in stability, I found them more work than it was worth for me. But I think part of it was due to the boots (hawx xtd). I would back to back the two, and just found the lighter ski to be more fun for more of the day overall for my skiing style. It may be a different story if I was skiing on my old head raptors.

Red white hojis are my daily driver, praxis 9d8s for less than ideal conditions, and torn about what powder ski to buy, I do find for my weight and height (and probably mount point, on the line) there is a limit on the hojis in powder I find.

Hope that helps

Thanks man. Interesting to hear you prefer the newer lighters ones, that's promising. How big of a difference in stability was it between the two? I was thinking Raven's + shifts/something similar for inbounds and touring, but now I'm leaning towards Hoji's w/ alpine bindings and Ravens with tech binding.. still unsure though. I'm a bit lighter so the Hoji's will work well for deep days too for me. The old ones I used were great in 12+" and the new lighter ones would be even better I suspect. Appreciate the insight.

[xyz]

My Raven tour locks were stamped at 84cm from tail instead of 86cm. I wrote 4frnt to see if they changed the line and they said they were mis-marked - should be 86cm. My new Hoji’s were marked at 87.5cm vs 87cm. Always confirm line and measure before drilling.


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Dang. Just measured mine. 84 cm as well. So I effectively mounted mine -3.5 cm. But if I compare to my 184 DPS 99’s, that are mounted on the line, the DPS is a more rear mount. So the Ravens seem to be more forward in general.

I think I’m happy with the ‘rear’ mount anyway as the tips don’t have much shovel so they tend to dive in denser pow. More forward obviously won’t help in that regard.

[tdpdx]

Just want to confirm my maths here. 190 Ravens should be mounted 89cm from the tail(-6cm from center). I have clown feet and boots to suit, my BSL is 355. Hoji math spits out an extra 35.5 mm back from center aka -9.5cm. But Hoji says don't go further back than -8cm, so I should mount my Ravens 87cm from the tail.

I get that right?

[Judo Chop!]

Just want to confirm my maths here. 190 Ravens should be mounted 89cm from the tail(-6cm from center). I have clown feet and boots to suit, my BSL is 355. Hoji math spits out an extra 35.5 mm back from center aka -9.5cm. But Hoji says don't go further back than -8cm, so I should mount my Ravens 87cm from the tail.

I get that right?

I have mounted 190's for my 333BSL at 86.5cm from tail, as well as further forward. IMO too far forward sucks with big feet/heavy on these. 86.5 feels great and I'd be keen to try further back.

[tdpdx]

I have mounted 190's for my 333BSL at 86.5cm from tail, as well as further forward. IMO too far forward sucks with big feet/heavy on these. 86.5 feels great and I'd be keen to try further back.

How far forward have you mounted them? What was poor about that experience?

I don't really want to go outside the Hoji rec, but if you've had good exp at -8.5 I could be convinced.