OGSO Thor review 

OGSO are a fairly new brand entering the market in 2015. Founder Tom Seidensticker has a background in ski mountaineering including 8000m peaks and was keen to make the kind of skis he wanted to ski.

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The almost custom ski,

OGSO have a quite unique Ski range that makes it feel customised, they essentially offer two skis, a fully rockered model (Super Rocker) and a more traditional camber (Neoteric). Then you get a choice of weight, they do a super light version which is ultra light and aimed at ski touring and ski alpinism, then they do a medium light version which is more of a freeride ski which still works well for the odd bit of short touring. Then you have a choice of widths under foot they start at 70mm and go up in 10mm increments to 110mm, but they are also to scale so the longer your ski the wider it is. For example the Schwarztor is the super light fully rockered ski that is the 100mm underfoot range, but I have the 186 so it is in fact scaled up to 106mm underfoot. This makes  it really easy to chose a ski the shape, size and weight you want. Review here.

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The Thor is the Neoteric super light 90 underfoot, which puts it right in the sweet spot of all rounders in the 90 -100 range and with a traditional camber. So perfect for most people out there.

Lets break it down 

Weight

I have the 184cm model with the following stats - 

132 at the nose, 98 underfoot and 116 in the tail, this gives it a 18m radius, it weighs 1.5Kg.

To give you an example of how that compares 

OGSO -  Thor 98 - 184 =1.5 Kg 

Zag -  Ubac 95 - 184 cm = 1.41 Kg 

Black Crows 96 - 183.3 = 1.6 Kg 

Dynafit free 97 - 184 =  1.54kg 

For those that like to have all the details of what goes in to the skis, OGSO’s site give a full break down of what makes up their skis they are very open about this.

Thor in detail -  https://ogso-mountain-essentials.com/product/thor-90-neo-ul/

‍I mounted them with Fritschi Xenic 10 bindings, to give me a light set up for testing. I skied this ski at the end of the 20/21 season and the start of the 21/22 season.

The ski is in that sweet spot of 90 - 100 underfoot so perfect for everyday use. It’s light ( for the size of ski) and if you match it with a lighter binding it’s a real easy set up to use for the ascent; clocking serious miles isn’t a hardship with this ski, having a flat traditional camber it has lots of edge to grip with if the way up gets a little icy. 

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For the down; the ski has a medium - firm flex, they have the strength to power through chopped up snow, but not so stiff that you need legs of steel to flex them. I tried the Danaides which are the medium light versions of the Thors and I found them a little to stiff for me. I find the Thors a perfect balance for my style of skiing. I mounted them to the recommended spec and found that it leads to a more upright skiing position. You can still put your weight forward if you want to get aggressive but you don’t need to, they ski very well from that upright more relaxed position, which is great for longer tours. If you prefer to be forward all the time then maybe look at where you mount the bindings.

I tried the Thors in lots of different snow types and found they performed well in all of them. 

In the knee deep powder they had good float, I never felt like I needed or wanted a fatter ski. Even when the snow got a little heavy they worked well I just needed to keep my speed up. On hard pack or spring they fly, the long edge gives them great grip and you can just let them go and still feel in control. That edge grip also helps on the steep ground it mean you always feel very secure, they don’t feel like they will slide away from you when you complete a turn your feel locked in. Even with good grip it’s still easy to bring the tails round, as you ski in a more upright position when you drop in to the fall line they just swing round behind you.

For the crud or poor snow they work well they can drive though most stuff and stay on track. 

Overall this is great all round ski, it would take someone from their first ski tour to expert ski mountaineers looking to take on big technical lines. Matched with a light binding it would work well for multi-day tours and handle all the conditions you might face. Also great for someone who is looking for a one ski to do everything.

Check out OGSO skis here - https://ogso-mountain-essentials.com