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PTO Review
We skied them. Here's how they stack up.
TC-S — advanced skiers whose event is judged on turn quality rather than clock time, who want a dedicated short-turn tool and can drive a ski from its nose. Laser SX — piste skiers who want one comfortable, wide-range carver and prefer all-day ease to race-build effort. Check the radar chart below to see where each one wins.
Each row compares all skis on one dimension. 🏆 marks the highest score.
| Dimension | TC-S | Laser SX |
|---|---|---|
| Carving | 9🏆 | 8 |
| Park | 1🏆 | 1🏆 |
| Playfulness | 4 | 5🏆 |
| Forgiveness | 3 | 6🏆 |
| Stability | 8🏆 | 7 |
| Powder | 1 | 2🏆 |
Advanced skiers whose event is judged on turn quality rather than clock time, who want a dedicated short-turn tool and can drive a ski from its nose. Two testers also singled out something unusual at 65 mm: it will still skid on demand, smoothly and to the width you ask for.
Skiers who cannot stay forward. One tester found the ski would not come around on a stem turn until he moved onto the tip and kept the ankle in, and he read the positional sweet spot as narrow by design. Anyone who finds the TC-S too demanding: OGASAKA answers that itself in print with the TC-S.LIGHT — the same 116-65-102 body, the same radii, 863 g/m against 970, a softer flex setting, roughly $300 less in matching setups. Long turns are out; the radius stops at 13.5 m. Powder, soft snow and anything off the piste are out; the waist is 65 mm and OGASAKA makes no float claim for the ski anywhere. Gate racing is out; OGASAKA marks the TRIUN SL as its SL-compliant model and prints no such marking here. And anyone who wants one price and one box should know that two of the three versions ship without a binding.
Piste skiers who want one comfortable, wide-range carver and prefer all-day ease to race-build effort. It suits medium-to-long-turn skiers at moderate-to-fast speed — the Laser SX runs the longest radius in the line — who value low-input, forgiving manners on groomed and variable hard snow over maximum edge bite. Stöckli's own brief calls it a genuine all-rounder among piste skis.
Powder and off-piste skiers: at 74 mm on a pure on-piste geometry the Laser SX has no float, and the wider range Stöckli talks about is range within the groomers, not off them. Short-turn and slalom-rhythm skiers: the radius bottoms out at 13.1 m, and quick edge-to-edge belongs to the Laser CX or the shorter Laser SL. Skiers chasing race-level grip and power: there is no Race Core, no carbon, and no racing sidewall here, and the 1.5° comfort base bevel is not the 1.0° race tune of the SC and WRT — that bite lives on those skis, not this one. Anyone who needs a published on-snow test before buying should wait: this generation is completely redesigned and no independent review of it exists yet — every existing Laser SX review is of the older, narrower ski and does not apply. And Stöckli lists no skier level of its own; read this as an intermediate-to-advanced piste ski, inferred from its mechanics rather than measured on snow.
The TC-S is best for advanced skiers whose event is judged on turn quality rather than clock time, who want a dedicated short-turn tool and. The Laser SX is best for piste skiers who want one comfortable, wide-range carver and prefer all-day ease to race-build effort. The right choice depends on your primary terrain, ability level, and riding style.
The OGASAKA TC-S scores highest in Stability at 8/10, making it the strongest all-mountain option. It handles groomers, chop, and variable conditions without losing composure, so it's the best single-ski choice for skiers who want one pair for the whole mountain.
The OGASAKA TC-S leads in Carving with a PTO score of 9/10. Its edge grip on hard snow and groomed runs is the strongest in this comparison.
The Stöckli Laser SX is the most forgiving option with a Forgiveness score of 6/10. It doesn't punish imperfect technique, making it the easiest ski to progress on among these.
Not sure? Ask us.
