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Skining for the first time - Serre Chevalier/Southern Alps

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi,

I am about to get myself some skins and try using them for the first time. My idea is to do primarily lift accessed off-piste with uphill bits to get a bit further away, bearing in mind my gear is very alpine orientated.

Does anyone have reccomendations of books covering serre chevalier/la grave or anywhere in southern alps (vars, puy st vincent,etc).

Or any guides you would reccommend. I have been surprised at how expensive guided ski days can be. I guess my ambition would be to learn enough that i diddn't neccessairly need to have a guide.

I would also be very interested in longer ski-randonee but it seems to require investing in a whole new set of boots, bindings, skis, skins etc. not cheap, any tips on that? (maybe, buy boots and rent the rest?).

Thanks.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
What skis do you have? If you've got Alpine (downhill) type skis you'll need something like an Alpine Trekker that allows your heel to lift otherwise you wont be able to walk very far with or without skins.

For longer tours proper touring bindings and boots are really a must, it is an expensive game. Lots of people buy the kit, try it and then don't like it, they then sell their kit off. Keep an eye on the second hand thread on here, pisthors, winterhighlands and ebay.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
ractys, you will need a guide. If you can't afford the guiding stick to the pistes. The local bureau de guides has some good ones.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
OwenM wrote:
What skis do you have? If you've got Alpine (downhill) type skis you'll need something like an Alpine Trekker that allows your heel to lift otherwise you wont be able to walk very far with or without skins


Just whack Dukes/Barons on 'em, far better option.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
clarky999 wrote:
OwenM wrote:
What skis do you have? If you've got Alpine (downhill) type skis you'll need something like an Alpine Trekker that allows your heel to lift otherwise you wont be able to walk very far with or without skins


Just whack Dukes/Barons on 'em, far better option.


That would be a better but more expensive option.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Probably worth hunting down some ski mountaineering/touring courses, and hiring some gear for the occasion. The instructors should know what they are doing, and the cost of the tuition can be cheaper than a guide, especially if you don't have a bunch of friends to split the cost with. Chamonix is probably a sensible place to look.

No-one has ever said anything nice about alpine trekkers. You might be able to pick em up cheap second hand, but buying a new set seems unlikely to be a good investment! You can use normal alpine boots in rail-type AT bindings (fritschi, marker) just fine, though it won't be fun for walking far (but some folk certainly do). All the cool (and not nearly so cool) kids use Dynafit bindings, and for good reason. If you do go boot shopping, make sure you get something which has dynafit compatibility so you can upgrade later.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
In order to skin you have to have touring bindings on your skis. You can hire skis with touring bindings to try it. The basics are simple.

Only get lightweight Dynafit bindings if you think you might be serious about taking this another step into proper touring, spending most of the day walking rather than skiing. If you are just going to do an hour or two uphill to get to good skiing you are better off with more stable bindings which are close to normal bindings for downhill. Frischi Freerides are slightly lighter than Marker Barons (and Marker Dukes even heavier: there is no point in them for ordinary skiers - the Barons are perfectly stable.) The Barons are supposed to be fractionally more stable than Fritschis but really the difference, if any, is unimportant. I slightly regret not returning to Fritschis with my current skis since the latter are much simpler to change from walking to/from skiing mode (you have to take off the ski with Markers) and to/from raised heel position for steeper slopes, which you can do with your ski stick without bending over with Fritschis.

I have skied for a long time off piste, mostly with guides and wouldn't want to ski la Grave without a guide. A few years ago someone used to display a map with La Grave off-piste routes but stopped because they didn't want to encourage people to get into danger: There are just too many cliffs to fall over or find yourself stuck above.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
What Serriadh said. Simon Christy ran an excellent week's off-piste guiding and instruction with some touring thrown in based around La Grave/L2A/ADH. I was a first time skinner on his course last year and now I can't get enough of it. He's running it again in early Feb next year. He posts as Offpisteskiing on here. If you're a decent, confident skier, you'll struggle to find a better course that fits what/where you're interested in.

Yes, the kit is pricy but if you go for a boot like the Dynafit Titan TF-X, it comes with alpine DIN and touring/tech compatible soles so you can click into anything and flog your current alpine boots. Hiring skis and skins around Serre Che is a doddle if you want to give it a go and then invest at a later date.
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Try to find holidays with a guide, or find a group with similar ambitions who you can share a guide with (which is what I do). Hiring a guide for one or two people is just too expensive. We normally share a guide between 6 of us for 6 days, which normally comes in at around €400 each. You might manage a bit less (perhaps €350), or a bit more, depending where it is.
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Have you skinned before at all? You may want to start skinning up the pistes just to get the hang of it. Also check with your resort tourist office if there are introductory courses. It's better to know the basics before you spend money on hiring the guide.
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