Al dente pasta IS NOT soft. It is that subtle, hard-to-achieve, between soft and hard firmness that you can only get by removing your pasta from the water at just the right moment. A minute too soon or a minute too late, and you will miss al dente.
The point is that you want your pasta to still have some firmness instead of turning into slippery seal noodles.
Which is what many people want in a park ski... hence the name.