Personally, I always thought the Alas were a bit crap. *ducks and runs for cover*
I never had a pair that lasted more than 3 months before they broke/ripped somewhere, and the foot pocket was ridiculously shaped and nowhere near stiff enough. Unfortunately, everything else that's been made in the last 20 years is even worse...

Somebody make me a carbon fiber rubber edged fin, short, wide and stiff with an aerofoil blade, elliptical tips and stiff lace-up moulded foot pockets. I offer my first-born son as payment.

Bently