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AT boots and bindings

kingslug

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I got into AT boots and bindings 8 years ago when I took an Avi course at Alta. You have to skin up. Ever since then I'm hooked. Both my skis now have AT bindings. Marker Tour F12 on my 105 Wagners and Fritchi Pros on the Head Kore 117's. Just got the new Soloman Quest 130 boots. I used to have Garmont Endorphins but wore them out. These new boots are even lighter. My point here is that a lot of people never have tried setups like these. I think they are missing out on many advantages. Even if you never skin up a mountain there are many advantages to these things. Weight. AT boots and binding are much lighter than convention alpine types. Every pound off your feet is like 10 lbs off your back. I find them much easier to swing around and jump off whatever I feel like. Just sitting on a chair lift with no foot rests is a lot nicer. Walking around. With vibram lugged soles and a walk mode you can walk around normally. Up and down stairs, which is required at every resort, the bathroom is never on the floor your on, is much easier. I cringe when I see people walking sideways, or falling down stairs on their plastic soles. Ice is a killer for the poor souls walking around the resort. With these boots I can run up and down stairs, walk up the hill to the lift and climb. Climbing if you ever try it is impossible in Alpine boots. With a 130 flex you will never overpower them. This seems to be what keeps people away from them. Always the question can you use them at the resort..yes you can. The rail type bindings are as strong as Alpine ones. Marker has even come out with a new technical binding. The Kingpin. They claim its as strong as an Alpine binding at half the weight and is fine for resort only use. Hell just walking around the airport with them on your back is much easier.
The problem is the demo. I don't know where you could demo these things. I just did some research and got them. The Quest boots are great and very form able. I have tough feet to fit. All they did is heat mold them and they where good to go. My Endorphins took hours. Just find a good shop that knows about these things. My shop could not adjust the bindings, they did not have experience with them. Shops at Stowe and Sugarbush have experience as a lot of people are out there skinning up.
 

Not Sure

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Lehigh County Pa.
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I was inspired to get an AT setup after being passed on Tuckerman Ravine trail my first time up . I heard the skinning noise by the time I turned around to look the guy passed me and was around the corner . He made it look simple HAHAHAHA.
I did a "Little" research and bought some Dukes (3lbs a piece) little did I know that with my Skis ,skins,bindings and boots I would be lugging 11.5lbs per ski up hill:-o. I was using my regular downhill boots. I later upgraded to some Scarpa Tech Boots and Dynafit bindings dropping 3lbs a ski. Buying light boots is a must if your doing any lengthy tours! I never had issues walking with downhill boots around the Lodge . Thinking the people who do are newbs anyway. I'm not sure how AT boots will hold up for aggressive down hill?

Finding a shop that is familiar with AT bindings is a challenge. My guess is the closer to BC areas would improve your chances of finding a competent shop, rail bindings are not much of a challenge to mount but Tech is a different story . I used to work in a shop and mounted my own.I daily drive my Dukes but did break them after I snapped a ski in half . Took out the front rail but was able to find parts on line. Very happy in general with them ,use for short tours. They rails can fouled with Ice when skinning so i carry a small screw driver to clear them when latching in for downhill.

Pa. has some nice lines but snow is a challenge .When things come together It's a cool feeling being out there and taking in some scenery and having the place to yourself. I Summer hike and check out potential runs. I keep my equipment in my vehicle to hit some nearby Parks while out during work hours. I train in off season with a beat up Nordic Trac and some leg weights so keeps me in Ski season frame of mind.
 

Hawkshot99

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I have Marker Tour 12's on my powder/bc ski. For this it is a great binding, but not something I want to ski as a daily driver. (They replaced a set of dukes btw.)
1. The binding is so much taller than a standard alpine binding.
2. While a F12 is lighter than a duke, it still weighs more than the Griffin I had on my daily skis.
3. On my dukes after several years of limited use (10days a year) they developed quite a bit of slop in them. The F12 is still lock solid, bit it has 2 days on it.

If I was spending ALOT of time skinning I'd have a set of tech bindings and corresponding boots. This leads to crazy light setups. I have 2 friends with kingpins. (They DO NOT release like a standard ski binding.) 1 of them has broken the bindings several times, the other I have watched take some scary falls and have no release.

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Hawkshot99

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Adjusting and mounting a set if bindings such as the F12 is pretty easy if you have done a few sets. Most shops do not have the proper jigs though so they avoid them.
The bindings do come with a paper template in the box, but can be intimidating at first.

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kingslug

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Stamford Ct and Stowe
I put 240 days on my Garmont Endorphin boots before i bough the Quests this year. Almost all of it in bounds or sidecountry. I really beat the hell out of them and they held up. At 225 lbs they took a beating. The fritchi pro bindings took a beating as well..they where mounted on Rossi s3s and survived major mogul runs and 45 deg chutes..and they are still going. The marker f12s have held up on similar conditions. The Fritchis are 8 years old so i may change them soon..The markers are much newer. Not going with a pin binding though, sticking to rail bindings.
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