Alpina AlpinerX Freeride World Tour Limited Edition
When brand partnerships feel forced, they can turn off customer interest quicker than a solar-powered Casio comes back to life when light hits the dial. Luckily for Alpina, the connection with the Freeride World Tour is not just a suitable pairing, but also one that benefits both parties. The latest Alpina AlpinerX adds to an already strong line-up.
If you’re not into Snowsports, you probably haven’t heard of the Freeride World Tour. Similarly, if you’re not into watchmaking, you probably haven’t heard of Alpina, let alone the Alpina AlpinerX. Luckily, if you’re into one, you now know about the other. Congratulations on having your mind expanded. Welcome to the club I just joined. The best thing about this club? Knowledge. The worst thing? Having to add another watch to your ever-extending wishlist…
The Alpina AlpinerX Freeride World Tour Limited Edition was not on my radar. The base model — the AlpinerX — had danced around the edge of my consciousness for a while, but being a Casio Mudmaster maniac, I’d just kind of swatted it away like an annoying fly. I was wrong to do that. The AlpinerX jams tons of useful — genuinely useful — functions for outdoor adventures into a sleek and professional package. The cost can’t compete with the latest generation Casios, but the wearability sure can.
A warrior, not a weapon
There is one significant difference between the Alpina AlpinerX and the majority of its competitors: The exterior of this watch is not hell-bent on taking out your eye. This piece is a warrior, not a weapon. It is designed to go anywhere and do anything. It cares more about your companionship than laying to waste its rivals on the bloody field of battle.
Although, it does look like it could handle itself in a brawl if it came to it…
A match made in heaven
This is the third year in a row that Alpina has partnered with the Freeride World Tour. This year, three new ambassadors have joined the brand’s “Mountain Team”. They are Juliette Willmann, Victor De le Rue, and Hugo Hoff. I’m sure all three will be donning the brand’s latest creations as the partnership does truly seem to be a match made in heaven. But they’ll have to hurry: Only 150 of these models will be made, with 25 of them put aside to be fitted with a Black Diamond Safety Beacon as part of a special safety set. Useful if you have a penchant for getting caught in avalanches, or so I’m told…
All in the app
As well as this watch being quite strictly limited, it will also be hard to come by in the wild. Sales will be restricted to selected retailers in France, Austria, Canada, and Switzerland, and to the Freeride World Tour and Alpina Watches websites. If you do manage to track down one of these bad boys, make sure you find a decent patch of phone signal at the earliest opportunity because this model’s functionality is all in the app.
You’re able to analyze data after the fact.
You can control the watch through this digital portal. I’m a fan of this system. The alternative is to set and operate all the functions via the crown, a la the Breitling Aerospace. I may be an adoring fan of that model, but I must concede the ease of use of these modern apps is really something. The best thing about them is that you’re able to analyze data after the fact. That’s pretty cool if you’re traveling long distances over a day.
The functions list makes for impressive reading. The Alpina AlpinerX boasts hours, minutes, seconds, date, activity tracking, heart rate monitoring (over BLE connection), sleep monitoring, has a pre-installed dynamic coach, a world timer function, a series of alarm functions, call and message notifications, a UV indicator (seriously), altitude (awesome), compass (useful), Temperature (essential), barometer (potentially life-saving), and a stopwatch function. All of this is courtesy of the MMT-283-1 smartwatch module. Battery life is estimated to last over two years as standard — a good benchmark.
A stylish beast
As I mentioned, perhaps my favorite thing about the Alpina AlpinerX is that it looks very smart. So many of these outdoors-centric watches feel the need to drape themselves in typically “sporty” colors like emergency orange, and radioactive yellow. It is cool to see such a stylish beast stalking the halls.
My dad — he’s really not a watch guy — loves these multi-function timepieces. He’s had Casios, Garmins, Pro Treks, and others throughout his life. The problem I have with his timepieces is that he wears them with everything. A 56mm survival tool is one thing when paired with gators, gore-tex, and crampons; it is quite another when positioned at the end of a shirt cuff.
I’ll be pointing my old man in the direction of the Alpina AlpinerX. It ticks all the boxes functionally and looks a treat. The blackened stainless steel/black fiberglass housing is 45mm wide but fitted with stout, drop-down lugs that facilitate wearability. A convex sapphire crystal is surrounded by a bidirectional compass bezel, elevating the tangible quality of this piece. A 100-meter water-resistance rating is more than sufficient and a black rubber strap finishes the job just in case you do take an accidental dip. Learn more about this watch and Alpina’s partnership with the Freeride World Tour here.
