Skins arrive today!

[Marc]

Man I can't wait. After hiking a few times I'm dying to do some real touring.

Or semi-real touring on the alpine wreckers. Now, please, fricken SNOW!

STS skins from the VT Barre Army Navy store, $115 shipped for 110 mm skins. Not a bad deal, I think. Plus it ended up being about 2 day shipping because of how close they are and UPS kicking all kinds of ass. Look at the tracking report:

1/19/2007 7:07 AM Bozrah, CT Out for Delivery
6:06 AM Bozrah, CT Arrival Scan
5:05 AM Shrewsbury, MA Departure Scan
2:02 AM Shrewsbury, MA Location Scan
2:02 AM Shrewsbury, MA Unload Scan
12:00 AM Shrewsbury, MA Arrival Scan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1/18/2007 8:20 PM Barre, VT Departure Scan
8:20 PM Barre, VT Origin Scan
3:15 PM United States Billing Information Received


All in one night. Bravo, boys in brown. Bravo.

 

[kbroderick]

I finally got my Silvretta/B2 combo mounted on Monday, got my skins trimmed Monday night and Tuesday morning, and got out on the skins Tuesday. It's a blast, and I'm really glad I did.

 

[Marc]

I finally got my Silvretta/B2 combo mounted on Monday, got my skins trimmed Monday night and Tuesday morning, and got out on the skins Tuesday. It's a blast, and I'm really glad I did.

Nice! Did you get the Pures?

 

[SkiDog]

also have a used setup im buying this weekend likely.....bandit xxx's with naxos....skins....cant WAIT....might even spring for new boots this weekend...been dying for some garmonts.

M

 

[Marc]

also have a used setup im buying this weekend likely.....bandit xxx's with naxos....skins....cant WAIT....might even spring for new boots this weekend...been dying for some garmonts.

M

You and me both. Mega ride or g ride. I need to go to a shop that carries them and figure out what size I need though. Garmonts apparently run big. Or so Austin says, and a guy on eBay.

 

[kbroderick]

Nice! Did you get the Pures?

Yup, Pure Freeride. I may actually take them out for some groomer skiing at some point, because I'm trying to get used to the new skis and the differently-feeling bindings at the same time, which is a lot of variables to contend with on natural snow.

I've been pretty darn psyched with my Adrenalins, as far as the boots go. I went from a slightly-large 27.0 Rossi Soft boot to a 26.5 Adrenalin, which was a near-race-fit volume (I had to get the toeboxes enlarged on both boots). My two previous pairs of boots were a 26.5 Lange retail-stock race boot and a 27.0 Rossi Mtn Viper (er, Bandit maybe? the one below the retail race boot at the time), for size comparison. The 26.5 Langes required work to be wearable for more than 20 minutes at a time, whereas the Rossis were ever-so-slightly on the large side.

 

[SkiDog]

You and me both. Mega ride or g ride. I need to go to a shop that carries them and figure out what size I need though. Garmonts apparently run big. Or so Austin says, and a guy on eBay.

Im looking at either of those too......I think its the mega ride that has the dynafit. Cant hurt.

M

 

[Marc]

Yup, Pure Freeride. I may actually take them out for some groomer skiing at some point, because I'm trying to get used to the new skis and the differently-feeling bindings at the same time, which is a lot of variables to contend with on natural snow.

I've been pretty darn psyched with my Adrenalins, as far as the boots go. I went from a slightly-large 27.0 Rossi Soft boot to a 26.5 Adrenalin, which was a near-race-fit volume (I had to get the toeboxes enlarged on both boots). My two previous pairs of boots were a 26.5 Lange retail-stock race boot and a 27.0 Rossi Mtn Viper (er, Bandit maybe? the one below the retail race boot at the time), for size comparison. The 26.5 Langes required work to be wearable for more than 20 minutes at a time, whereas the Rossis were ever-so-slightly on the large side.

How heavy exactly are the Adrenalins? I've heard the hybrid boots (Arenalin, Endorphin) are too heavy to comfortably do long tours.

 

[powers]

I have some G-rides and my buddy has both the Adrenalines and Endorphins. If you are doing more climbing and touring the G-rides are pretty nice but the other two definately have more drive to them. All are still lighter and easier to skin in than a standard boot. If you are a larger and/or more aggresive skier go for the stiffer Adrenalines or Endorfs. I can't ski my G-rides as hard as I would like but I can hike/skin and ski everything in comfort and warmth.

 

[kbroderick]

How heavy exactly are the Adrenalins? I've heard the hybrid boots (Arenalin, Endorphin) are too heavy to comfortably do long tours.

They seem comfy and light enough to me; I've even gone hiking in them. However, I have yet to attempt anything that might be considered a long tour, and I'll freely admit that my setup (158cm B2s w/ Silvretta Pure Freeride bindings, 110mm BD Glidelite STS skins cut to be wall-to-wall, and a pair of Adrenalins) is not designed to work particularly well for touring use. I went for a reasonably short (about 1.75 hours climbing, I think) tour this evening on the local XC trails before descending an alpine trail, and skinnier skins (and possibly skinnier skis) would have been nice.

 

[koreshot]

Sweet. Marc, you are gonna have to edumacate me on the whole process as I know next to nothing about touring. 110mm skis? Is that cause you are gonna have them trimmed under your foot or did you get skis that big to tour with?

 

[kbroderick]

Sweet. Marc, you are gonna have to edumacate me on the whole process as I know next to nothing about touring. 110mm skis? Is that cause you are gonna have them trimmed under your foot or did you get skis that big to tour with?

I assume you're talking to me and not to Marc, as I mentioned using 110mm skins.

My skis are Rossi B2s that measure 109-78-105 IIRC; I bought the skins based on the tail measurement and what was available at OGE when I was shopping for skins. I had decided to go wall-to-wall for better climbing grip at the expense of glide, based on the predominant use I expect to get out of the skins (sidecountry and/or on-site, sans lifts, at a ski area); choosing a significantly narrower skin (e.g. an 80mm skin) would've been cheaper and given me better glide but made me more prone to slipping on steeper climbs.

Obviously, a 110mm skin doesn't fit on a B2 without trimming; a 100mm skin would've been a better size (still effectively wall-to-wall but without being wider than necessary), but the aforementioned retail selection led me to pick up a pair of 110mm seconds rather than a pair of 100's. With any skin that is wider than the waist of your ski, you will need to trim the skin to the shape of the ski; this is slightly unfortunate for those of us who don't expect our skis to last as long as our skins, but you can probably still put the same skins on a new pair of skis with a similar shape.

If you're looking for more info on the subject, Google for skivt-l archives and then search the archives for discussions on skins. That's where I got most of my info. (Well, that and OGE--I highly recommend them, especially if you can stop in at the retail store).

 

[Marc]

Sweet. Marc, you are gonna have to edumacate me on the whole process as I know next to nothing about touring. 110mm skis? Is that cause you are gonna have them trimmed under your foot or did you get skis that big to tour with?

What broderick said. I bought 110 mm skins to, and I'm going to use them on the Aztecs. The tip on those is 118 but the waist is 78, so I will be doing some trimming. They give you long enough to fit a very long ski so you have to trim the length regardless. I got my BD skins from the Barre VT Army Navy store for $115 shipped. Cheapest I could find.

 

[awf170]

So are you going to try them out at Wawa thursday? You should just skin straight up the middle of conifer.

Seriously though, I bet the auto road may have enough snow for skinning now, all you probably need is like an inch or two. I can't actually believe I am saying this about Wawa, but I wish I could be there. I was thinking about going if it was warmer, but I don't think my toe would be okay with temps in the teens. Hopefully next week but that is pretty doubtful since my toe will probably start peeling and be even worse off.

BTW I sent you those short clips from last thursday.

 

[Marc]

So are you going to try them out at Wawa thursday? You should just skin straight up the middle of conifer.

Seriously though, I bet the auto road may have enough snow for skinning now, all you probably need is like an inch or two. I can't actually believe I am saying this about Wawa, but I wish I could be there. I was thinking about going if it was warmer, but I don't think my toe would be okay with temps in the teens. Hopefully next week but that is pretty doubtful since my toe will probably start peeling and be even worse off.

BTW I sent you those short clips from last thursday.

Yah man, I got the vids. That jump looked really unimpressive. At least our skiing looked good.

I might skin at Wa next week, I don't think I'll get up there again this week after I put in a solid 21,000 ft tonight. That and we're thinking about Big Jay this weekend, so I'll def. get to try them out then if that materializes. Think there's enough snow up there for that?

 

[Marc]

NM, I just read that other thread.

 

[awf170]

That and we're thinking about Big Jay this weekend, so I'll def. get to try them out then if that materializes. Think there's enough snow up there for that?

Not really. Wait a while. I mean you probably could pick you way down, but it would probably be very sketchy. On the other hand they may have got a lot of blow in during the last storm because the wind direction was perfect. Anyway, I really have no idea since I have never been over to Big Jay but my guess is from what I saw saturday is that there is not enough snow yet. Wait a few more week that way the snow will be better (hopefully) and I will be able to join you.

 

[AHM]

AT boots: yeah or ney.............

Adrenalines, endorphins, mega rides, alpine boots. I have toured extensively in alpine boots (multi day tours, 6000 vert days, specifically Lange Comp 120s). I also have adrenalines and have done multi day trips in those (40,000 verts over about 6 days--I mention the verts so the readers realize that this is some lengthy time spent in your boots). Touring in an alpine boot is not that big a deal, unbuckle it and it is really quite comfy. Used them on Sat when the lifts went down at SB North. I actually like touring in my alpine boots for basic stuff.

The adrenalines are a bit lighter, but you will rarely notice it. The advantage I find with an AT boot is the vibram sole if you are going to do any scrambling, rappeling, or generally walking around on ice and rock. If this is your cup of tea, then an AT boot works great.

One advantage to adrenalines, endorphins is the interchangable sole, this allows the boot to do double duty and for most eastern ski tourers, time is spent in a mix of resort and backcountry. If you are only a ski tourer, then no need for this feature, but if you want one boot to do both, then this makes sense.

My view for most tourers out there is ask yourself: how much do I tour and do I need a specific boot for that. If you tour tucks once or twice a season, I would not bother with two sets of boots (either go interchangable sole or alpine). If you intend on touring more, say 25 - 50 % of your season, then a touring specific boot is an excellent idea.

Now, to the guy who mentioned the dynafit. Here's one thing to consider if you become a serious backcountry skier: standardization. Yep, the TLT is light, McLean uses it and swears by it, etc, but most people use the freeride. So, when we do big tours, we bring spare parts (in fact we bring an entire freeride, cus in the middle of nowhere, there aren't shops to fix your gear). If you go dynafit, that part's kit is yours and typically yours only, where as if you go freeride, the chances are you can go with one parts kit for the group.

Don't think the binding will break ? think again, AT bindings are at their weakest when touring. I have broken the metal screw plate on my Freerides toe, which ended that day. Luckily I was in Rogers pass and could simply ski down to the pass and into Golden for a set of boards (afterwards we started bringing a spare freeride with us in our packs). I have seen a lot of dynafit skiers struggle with the toe engagement. So, when you start buying this touring gear, ask yourself what you are going to use it for and then decide what spares you need.

 

[JimG.]

Adrenalines, endorphins, mega rides, alpine boots. I have toured extensively in alpine boots (multi day tours, 6000 vert days, specifically Lange Comp 120s). I also have adrenalines and have done multi day trips in those (40,000 verts over about 6 days--I mention the verts so the readers realize that this is some lengthy time spent in your boots). Touring in an alpine boot is not that big a deal, unbuckle it and it is really quite comfy. Used them on Sat when the lifts went down at SB North. I actually like touring in my alpine boots for basic stuff.

The adrenalines are a bit lighter, but you will rarely notice it. The advantage I find with an AT boot is the vibram sole if you are going to do any scrambling, rappeling, or generally walking around on ice and rock. If this is your cup of tea, then an AT boot works great.

One advantage to adrenalines, endorphins is the interchangable sole, this allows the boot to do double duty and for most eastern ski tourers, time is spent in a mix of resort and backcountry. If you are only a ski tourer, then no need for this feature, but if you want one boot to do both, then this makes sense.

My view for most tourers out there is ask yourself: how much do I tour and do I need a specific boot for that. If you tour tucks once or twice a season, I would not bother with two sets of boots (either go interchangable sole or alpine). If you intend on touring more, say 25 - 50 % of your season, then a touring specific boot is an excellent idea.

Now, to the guy who mentioned the dynafit. Here's one thing to consider if you become a serious backcountry skier: standardization. Yep, the TLT is light, McLean uses it and swears by it, etc, but most people use the freeride. So, when we do big tours, we bring spare parts (in fact we bring an entire freeride, cus in the middle of nowhere, there aren't shops to fix your gear). If you go dynafit, that part's kit is yours and typically yours only, where as if you go freeride, the chances are you can go with one parts kit for the group.

Don't think the binding will break ? think again, AT bindings are at their weakest when touring. I have broken the metal screw plate on my Freerides toe, which ended that day. Luckily I was in Rogers pass and could simply ski down to the pass and into Golden for a set of boards (afterwards we started bringing a spare freeride with us in our packs). I have seen a lot of dynafit skiers struggle with the toe engagement. So, when you start buying this touring gear, ask yourself what you are going to use it for and then decide what spares you need.

Great synopsis.

Exactly the reasons I bought Adrenalins and Freerides.