Fritischi Freeride and regular use.......

All: With the growing popularity of the freeride, some are considering it for all around use. A couple notes on that:

1. The freeride is a TOURING binding. That said, it can be used every day, but it really is not designed for eastern mogul skiing. Can you mogul ski on them ? Yes, and they work fine, but too much mogul bashing and the freeride might die on you when you need it most......far far from a road or lift. Before I committed to the freeride I did a great deal of eastern mogul skiing on them--needed to trust them for big mountain coulior skiing which can be scoured (hardpack) depending on the aspect of the pitch. They work fine as stated, the lift is significant but really no biggie.

2. Freerides are weakest when you are touring. I have cracked the front mounting point (4 screws mount the front to the ski) on the lower set of screws. There isn't a whole lot of metal surrounding the screw hole and so cracking is not uncommon. BD will replace Free of Charge, but that does you little good when you are in the middle of nowhere.

3. Andy McLean defore switching to the dynafit (not something I would do) used to carry an entire spare freeride in his pack when touring. Having broke my freeride in Rogers pass two years ago, I took a spare freeride to Fairy Meadows hut this past season and will always bring one with me when convenient.

4. For the huckster. I have also dropped some 20 ft airs on my freerides with no problem. They are tough, and will take a beating, but they are more of a soft snow binding. They were designed to tour.

5. I have found that sometimes my toe height adjuster moves a bit when touring. As you go, check how much the boot toe is lifting up when you are striding. Adjust as necessary. I find the G3 tail clip works just fine as an on the spot screwdriver to adjust the toe height. This has happened even when I check toe height right before I go out.

6. Would I use the freeride as my only binding. No, because I am an eastern skier and ski a lot of moguls. I leave the freeride for primarily touring.

7. What kind of ski would I put a freeride on: For most, I would put them on a used ski. Here's why. Most are not 50:50 backcountry:lift. When touring the east, you will most likely find rocks etc and you will be touring in warmer weather typically (spring for most) where a used, softer ski, that you do not care about is the best ski. It will typically be corny and ice hold is not a big concern. The waist should be 78 or better really, and I would go above 80.

8. I have used freerides for 3 seasons and think they are an excellent choice. A better choice than the naxo, based on friends who have had the naxo.

9. Get some freerides and get out touring......it lengthens the whole season and skiing up the TRT or GoS trail is a whole lot faster and more fun and keeps 20 ish pounds off your hips and back.

AHM said:

All: With the growing popularity of the freeride, some are considering it for all around use. A couple notes on that:

1. The freeride is a TOURING binding. That said, it can be used every day, but it really is not designed for eastern mogul skiing. Can you mogul ski on them ? Yes, and they work fine, but too much mogul bashing and the freeride might die on you when you need it most......far far from a road or lift. Before I committed to the freeride I did a great deal of eastern mogul skiing on them--needed to trust them for big mountain coulior skiing which can be scoured (hardpack) depending on the aspect of the pitch. They work fine as stated, the lift is significant but really no biggie.

2. Freerides are weakest when you are touring. I have cracked the front mounting point (4 screws mount the front to the ski) on the lower set of screws. There isn't a whole lot of metal surrounding the screw hole and so cracking is not uncommon. BD will replace Free of Charge, but that does you little good when you are in the middle of nowhere.

3. Andy McLean defore switching to the dynafit (not something I would do) used to carry an entire spare freeride in his pack when touring. Having broke my freeride in Rogers pass two years ago, I took a spare freeride to Fairy Meadows hut this past season and will always bring one with me when convenient.

4. For the huckster. I have also dropped some 20 ft airs on my freerides with no problem. They are tough, and will take a beating, but they are more of a soft snow binding. They were designed to tour.

5. I have found that sometimes my toe height adjuster moves a bit when touring. As you go, check how much the boot toe is lifting up when you are striding. Adjust as necessary. I find the G3 tail clip works just fine as an on the spot screwdriver to adjust the toe height. This has happened even when I check toe height right before I go out.

6. Would I use the freeride as my only binding. No, because I am an eastern skier and ski a lot of moguls. I leave the freeride for primarily touring.

7. What kind of ski would I put a freeride on: For most, I would put them on a used ski. Here's why. Most are not 50:50 backcountry:lift. When touring the east, you will most likely find rocks etc and you will be touring in warmer weather typically (spring for most) where a used, softer ski, that you do not care about is the best ski. It will typically be corny and ice hold is not a big concern. The waist should be 78 or better really, and I would go above 80.

8. I have used freerides for 3 seasons and think they are an excellent choice. A better choice than the naxo, based on friends who have had the naxo.

9. Get some freerides and get out touring......it lengthens the whole season and skiing up the TRT or GoS trail is a whole lot faster and more fun and keeps 20 ish pounds off your hips and back.

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Great post...LOTS OF INFO...I have been toying with the idea of Freerides or Naxo NX21's. I am reading GREAT THINGS about the latest iteration of the naxo, and am leaning towards it.

AHM i'd ask if you know anyone with the nex naxo and how they like it. I knkow the freerides are true and tested so they are not out of the race..but I like being different.

now...onto the boot question. What are you using for touring currently? Adrenaline? I was looking at the Garmont Endorphin, but dont know if its worth the extra $$ over the adrenaline. Scarpa also has some offerings. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

As for the "used skis" would you hesitate in mounting onto skis that have been previously drilled?

thanks a bunch in advance. I need to get this setup this season, I have skis I think I could use although they may be slightly heavy I think I can use em for the limited touring i'll do (Swallowtail Dynastar Intutiv BIGS they're long though).

Thanks again..

M

I use the Freeride as an everyday binding...can't argue at all with AHM's opinions. The bindings are built like tanks and have never let me down.

I've heard that cracking at the front mounting points can be a problem; it's never happened to me, but I don't tour as often as he does.

As for bumps, they work just fine and the added lift they impart is easily adapted to. But last season I went back to traditional bump skis with two piece alpine bindings and found I was happier with that setup.

I'll probably spring for a pair of new Dynastar Twisters with a set of 2 piece (no plates or lifters) Markers for bindings as my everyday bump ski. Other than that, I'll keep using the Fritschis as an everyday ski.

In answer to your questions

SkiDog said:

Great post...LOTS OF INFO...I have been toying with the idea of Freerides or Naxo NX21's. I am reading GREAT THINGS about the latest iteration of the naxo, and am leaning towards it.

AHM i'd ask if you know anyone with the nex naxo and how they like it. I knkow the freerides are true and tested so they are not out of the race..but I like being different.

now...onto the boot question. What are you using for touring currently? Adrenaline? I was looking at the Garmont Endorphin, but dont know if its worth the extra $$ over the adrenaline. Scarpa also has some offerings. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

As for the "used skis" would you hesitate in mounting onto skis that have been previously drilled?

thanks a bunch in advance. I need to get this setup this season, I have skis I think I could use although they may be slightly heavy I think I can use em for the limited touring i'll do (Swallowtail Dynastar Intutiv BIGS they're long though).

Thanks again..

M

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1. Freeride vs Naxo: Only know a friend with NX21. Doesn't like the toe. Also, with so many freerides, spare parts are easier and your buddies may be on the Freeride, so standardization here is best (especially if you are going to get "out there")

2. I get the Naxo on industry courtesy form--> I still do not use it even with the huge price break. Understand being different, base it on the data and the huge amount of freeride users. New freeride is sweet.

3. Adrenaline. Are they an alpine boot-->No, but they work pretty well. They get quite stiff really in the cold (winter). I pulled the liner and put in an alpine one to add liner stiffness, allowing me to keep the cuff buckled loose (that's how I ski).

4. Not sure the endorphine is needed. I based it all on fit. I ordered every type (adren, Mega ride, scarpa denali, tornado, in various sizes and checked them all out in the comfort of my living room. The ultimate best part of this was having a buddy I ski with come over once I was done and check each out. He has the same size foot. But he came over in jeans, decided he couldn't adequately test the boot fit in jeans (not sure why). So he is running around my house (wife was out) flexing AT boots in his BVD's. The look was priceless, but I just couldn't pull out the camera for it.

5. I like an AT boot simply for the vibram. Having the vibram while walking around on rocks etc as you are getting into a pitch or boot pack scrambling over rocks is just great. The touring mode is fine, but you can tour in an alpine boot and I have for a week straight (Lange Comp 120) with no problems. They are great. My profile pic (not sure others can see this) is on a 100 ft rapel, and the start is all rock and ice, and the vibram would have been nice here. I was on the Langes as it was only a lift served LG day. A friend and UIAGM guide (La Grave guide all winter) actually had his technica soles ground down and a vibram put on them by a cobbler in Italy. It was pretty sweet. He is a full time freeride user.

6. Only use the AT boot for touring. Do not use them at the area unless I am doing something stupid, like skiing SB north and then hiking the LT over to SB south. For this the adrenaline is better than my Lange. I do things like this out of boredom. Or if I am "coming home" using the less traveled path, I might have the AT on.

7. No hesitation redrilling the skis.

8. I think the big will be fine. The swallow tail is small and may actually hold the skin clip very well. My XXX's have a small tail cut out and I swear it is for a skin clip, as clips rarely come off my XXX vs friends w/o the clip comes off kinda regularly.

That should answer those questions. My view for most is buy the binding, skins, and poles (gotta have these to tour more efficiently) and then throw em on a used ski. Use your alpine boots until you tour > 25 % of the time. Then get some AT boots and start thinking about the ski you want as a dedicated touring ski.

I chose the XXX as I loved my XXX as a regular ski and thought, hey just get the same ski. Bought 'em used, perfect for touring as you don't care about the base. I actually do not care much about my bases. They are tuned, but for about 3 days last season I had a full edge rip out going and compression. Left the ski this way until the last day and then got it tuned up. LG can put some serious abuse on your boards, but Twinner in LG works wonders to a base. The skis literally came back perfect. It was quite funny as everyone was checking the board out in the bar and amazed at the work. Especially cool having Miles Smart checking it out.

Get the set up and the season will be more interesting. I can not stress enough the fun of touring your local hill at night and headlamp skiing down. The areas (some) are not nuts on this, but it is a riot and there is a pretty big underground movement of night time VT tourers.

AHM said:

I can not stress enough the fun of touring your local hill at night and headlamp skiing down.

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Hear that Marc? Anyone know if there any lost ski areas near Wachusett? That would be way fun on a powder night instead of dealing with the hoards at Wawa. Marc get AT bindings, Zand I'll lend you some snowshoes. Deal?

yeah im going to get a full time touring rig of some sort this year even if its a new ski purchase...I have been using alpine trekkers so far...they took some getting used to...but worked for a while..

I will likely be buying a touring boot too this season, but I do like the suggestion of touring in the alpine boot for now to get a better feel of what I really want. Plus I like the idea of having what im used to skiing (stiffness) in a boot.

thanks again for all the info...prefect decision helper...

I heard the naxos tour better, but im not too particular obviously using the alpine trekkers....im looking for realiability and like you mentioned...standard..there will likely be more freeriders out there than naxos ....

Muchas gracias..

M

SkiDog said:

thanks a bunch in advance. I need to get this setup this season, I have skis I think I could use although they may be slightly heavy I think I can use em for the limited touring i'll do (Swallowtail Dynastar Intutiv BIGS they're long though).

Click to expand...

my touring setup is currently intuitiv bigs with a freeride. ripping combo, lotta weight. fair trade off, imo.

My view for most is buy the binding, skins, and poles (gotta have these to tour more efficiently) and then throw em on a used ski. Use your alpine boots until you tour > 25 % of the time. Then get some AT boots and start thinking about the ski you want as a dedicated touring ski.

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great advice, this is what i did (except i got a nice pair of skis since i didn't have any old ones that fit the bill). if you are looking at a freeride or naxo, definitely don't worry about an AT boot straight outta the gate (though you will probably look for one eventually). keep in mind that you don't need a "touring" or "AT" specific ski, many standard skis will fit the bill, but many will not (for example, "system" skis that are not available "flat").

riverc0il said:

my touring setup is currently intuitiv bigs with a freeride. ripping combo, lotta weight. fair trade off, imo.

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Inbigs are actually quite light for their size, aren't they? My whole setup weighs in at 18 pounds. Boots=6.5 Ski+Bindings= 11.5

awf170 said:

Inbigs are actually quite light for their size, aren't they? My whole setup weighs in at 18 pounds. Boots=6.5 Ski+Bindings= 11.5

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OILS are much newer...mine are old swallowtails...

M

awf170 said:

Inbigs are actually quite light for their size, aren't they? My whole setup weighs in at 18 pounds. Boots=6.5 Ski+Bindings= 11.5

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depends how you are counting pounds. i consider them a bit on the heavy side... but compared to modern ski/binding combos using wood core construction, they aren't that bad. but overall, there are a lot light touring skis out there that are the same size or bigger.

awf170 said:

Hear that Marc? Anyone know if there any lost ski areas near Wachusett? That would be way fun on a powder night instead of dealing with the hoards at Wawa. Marc get AT bindings, Zand I'll lend you some snowshoes. Deal?

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Yeah, the problem being that since Wachusett is geographically a monadnock, there really aren't any ski areas near it, lost or otherwise.

I'd be more than willing to skin the carriage road, or up the slopes at night, if we can do it without getting caught. I have no idea how late they are out grooming.

I have a 15W halogen I use for night MTB'ing. I could rig that onto my ski helment. Also have a homemade 4300 mAh NiMH pack (12V) which I recently made convertable to 6V, ~8000 mAh... still need to find a good deal on a quality peak charger though.

That and some freerides and skins.

Marc said:

I'd be more than willing to skin the carriage road, or up the slopes at night, if we can do it without getting caught. I have no idea how late they are out grooming.

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Oh yes, isn't there a auto road on the backside? Cool that would be fun. What do you mean getting caught? Aren't you aloud to skin the mountain. Also are any trails not lit for night skiing, we could skin those if there are any. If you looking for used freerides keep your eye out on the TGR gear swap, every week or so a pair comes up for around $250, you just have to be quick.

awf170 said:

Oh yes, isn't there a auto road on the backside? Cool that would be fun. What do you mean getting caught? Aren't you aloud to skin the mountain. Also are any trails not lit for night skiing, we could skin those if there are any. If you looking for used freerides keep your eye out on the TGR gear swap, every week or so a pair comes up for around $250, you just have to be quick.

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The auto road wraps around almost the whole thing, and crosses over all of the Wa trails, which would be fun.

And I don't know about the rules, despite it being state owned land, it is leased to the Crowley's. At least the slopes are. And ski patrol does not like people going against the flow of traffic as I found out while hiking the "mogul" patch there once. I really don't know what they'd say if we tried to do it at night after they got done grooming.

Marc said:

The auto road wraps around almost the whole thing, and crosses over all of the Wa trails, which would be fun.

And I don't know about the rules, despite it being state owned land, it is leased to the Crowley's. At least the slopes are. And ski patrol does not like people going against the flow of traffic as I found out while hiking the "mogul" patch there once. I really don't know what they'd say if we tried to do it at night after they got done grooming.

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You're aloud to skin according to Marc #2(actually he joined before you, making him Marc #1, and you #2)

Mark_151 said:

To answer the poster about skinning -- yes you can, no lift ticket needed. It might be a little unpleasant during a crowded night though. You'd be better off with a headlamp hiking up the hiking trails to the summit, but that would still involve going directly across Ralph's Run and the terrain park. I do all my skinning there when it's closed, early morning, or on holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas morning, or when it closes at the end of the season.

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By the way I am now a 100% in for tuesday night. I'm ordering my season pass this week.


Steve: comparing the Inbigs to other skis with the same waist I think they are pretty light. Atleast compared to alpine skis, not touring. So what does your setup weigh anyway. It pays off in the weight catagory to be in the smallest size Garmont makes.

Woah woah woah... isn't a one letter difference in a four letter name suffecient for distinction?

One letter is 25% of the name, after all. And I really doubt ski patrol would let you skin up trails during operating hours... that certianly wouldn't stop me from trying, but I wouldn't have my season pass in view while making the attempt.

I actually did hike one of the new trails last year when it was closed and skied down it.

I know, I'm a real animal.

Marc said:

Woah woah woah... isn't a one letter difference in a four letter name suffecient for distinction?

One letter is 25% of the name, after all. And I really doubt ski patrol would let you skin up trails during operating hours... that certianly wouldn't stop me from trying, but I wouldn't have my season pass in view while making the attempt.

I actually did hike one of the new trails last year when it was closed and skied down it.

I know, I'm a real animal.

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I'm actually not too scared of ski patrol. I'm scared of some crazy, over caffeinated, over sugared middle schooler going straight into me in a wedge tuck.

And about the name. Say "Marc" then "Mark" outloud then tell me there is a difference.

awf170 said:

I'm actually not too scared of ski patrol. I'm scared of some crazy, over caffeinated, over sugared middle schooler going straight into me in a wedge tuck.

And about the name. Say "Marc" then "Mark" outloud then tell me there is a difference.

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Well Austin, you go skiing with me you're going to be scared of some crazy, over caffienated, over sugared 24 year old engineer going straight towards you in a wedge tuck.