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PTO Review
We skied them. Here's how they stack up.
PRO — advanced-to-expert skiers who live on hard snow, ski fast, and want race-room construction that is not a gate ski. 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 | PRO | Laser SX |
|---|---|---|
| Carving | 9🏆 | 8 |
| Park | 1🏆 | 1🏆 |
| Playfulness | 2 | 5🏆 |
| Forgiveness | 3 | 6🏆 |
| Stability | 9🏆 | 7 |
| Powder | 1 | 2🏆 |
Advanced-to-expert skiers who live on hard snow, ski fast, and want race-room construction that is not a gate ski. It suits a skier who wants the long, fast arc - 16 m at 175 cm, out to 22 m at 189 - and who wants a system ski that arrives on its plate and factory-tuned rather than a flat ski to build up. Van Deer also lists a higher-DIN Marker COMP 16 GW as a fitting option for the PRO, which it does not list for the H-Power line; whether that range is the right one for you is a fitting question for a technician.
Beginners and soft intermediates: the catalogue's easy-to-ski line is measured against a World Cup ski, not a cruiser, and this is a stiff metal build that has to be driven. Anyone who leaves the groomer: 68 mm on a race layup has no float, and soft snow makes it work - the H-Power 89 or the Freeride skis are that ski, not this one. Anyone who wants short, quick, tight-radius turns: the PRO starts at 168 cm and 13 m and never goes shorter, while the H-Power 68 runs down to 147 cm and a 10 m radius, in lengths the PRO does not make, for $50 less. And a racer who needs a homologated ski cannot use this one - Van Deer says the PRO is deliberately not FIS-bound. Look at the Race Series, and check the model and length against the current FIS list yourself, because Van Deer prints no per-model homologation for any adult ski.
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 PRO is best for advanced-to-expert skiers who live on hard snow, ski fast, and want race-room construction that is not a gate ski. 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 Van Deer PRO scores highest in Stability at 9/10, 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 Van Deer PRO 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.
