He is completely wrong, the Halos are the softest park skis Armada makes.  They are stiff if your comparing them to line, but they are easy to butter. The reason they get bad reviews, is because they are so unique.  They take some getting use to, first they are rockered which not many people are used to with park skis, second the elf shoe makes the turn radius extremely low (12.5,14, 15.5m as compared to an AR7 19.5, 20.5, 21.5) also they ski really short, but the elf shoe/rocker makes the ski really easy to butter.  Lastly better/more aggressive skiers will benefit more from the Halo/Alpha 1 than a newbie, because the things they allow you to do on snow will surprise you