Instead of a choke-up grip for high-side traversing, the Scepter makes use of a grippy spray on the upper shaft to make it easier to grip. Think of a low grit skateboard grip tape. This definitely saves weight and seems smart, but over the twenty days I’ve used the poles, it has worn down to where it doesn’t do much. Increasing the grit size would help here, as well as spraying it further down the shaft.
That said as you say, and do what the OH's done and strap some tennis/quash racket grip round them
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The shaft grip isn't great. Aside from the grip wearing (not a problem for me yet, probably because I've not used it enough), the lack of an extra grip means you're holding the bare pole which is pretty small diameter. Even with small hands, it's less comfortable than a wider grip. Grip tape would help with that too.
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?
Yep, needs to be pretty thick or I find it gets uncomfortable on long stints with ‘short poles’. I’m thinking boot packing steeps where you’re using the poles a lot more than traversing/skinning
@BobinCH, Enjoy it while you can, they'll soon be grumpy teenagers. We had Irish Triplets and I always remember a lady (in Watford of all places) saying to a rather tired Mum and Dad, "Don't worry, it gets easier.....When they're about 30!!"
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@BobinCH, all you need now is a dog
Had a "Wally" moment today, and paid the price for not wearing gloves or sleeves.
Climbing up a steep incline on the piste, which was still frozen corduroy in the shade, rather than take a steep traverse I straight-lined it, and probably due to the effects of the impromptu crazy party last evening not concentrating lost grip and started slipping, ended up hitting the deck and the nice frozen snow left a fair number of cuts on my hands and elbow/arm
After all it is free
After all it is free
Not again.... bl**dy Xenics...
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
BobinCH wrote:
Not again.... bl**dy Xenics...
Time for some proper bindings
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sun 15-03-20 19:02; edited 1 time in total
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Yes Marker Duke PT’s me thinks
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
What failed this time?
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I suppose one day my kids will be skiing better than me and I will have to start blaming my equipment too.
Seriously - what went wrong with the Xenics this time?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
BobinCH wrote:
Yes Marker Duke PT’s me thinks
There are better options than the franken binding.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@PowderAdict, I don't see why you wouldn't just go the cast route.
I have yet to tour on my new Plum Pikas but am very happy with the way they ski. Brakes aren't great, mind. Little bit of stiffness. They were bought as they use the old Vertical ST hole pattern and I could just do a like for like swap with no redrilling.
Took a 2mm shim to get the delta flat (using Lange Freetours). Only thing to note is that clicking in is difficult. I think this is due to the timepiece being designed for a rocketed touring sole and the Lange's having an some with an alpine shape.
I guess it's going to be next season before I get out on them properly. Should have been yesterday but I guess we are where we are.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Maybe something simple like Speed Turns, ah, not new/sexy enough.......
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
DB wrote:
I suppose one day my kids will be skiing better than me and I will have to start blaming my equipment too.
Seriously - what went wrong with the Xenics this time?
Did a turn in some deep snow in exposed terrain, had to force it a bit and both skis popped straight of. Dins set on 9. Just rubbish. I saw that the Marker Duke PT uses a Marker Griffon or Jester Toe piece. I have had zero problems with those with dins set on 9 on the A124’s. Giving my money back to Marker - their bindings just seem to work like they are supposed to. Having hiked for 7 hours to get up there it wasn’t the greatest timing!
@BobinCH, have you not tried Shifts? Definitely less faff the the new Marker (and no toe pieces to be dropped during transitions ). Glad you didn't fall off with the skis though!
@BobinCH,
I‘d be totally p‘ssed too.
The next thing is that it‘s really difficult to change touring bindings these days as the mounting holes clash.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
clarky999 wrote:
@BobinCH, have you not tried Shifts? Definitely less faff the the new Marker (and no toe pieces to be dropped during transitions ). Glad you didn't fall off with the skis though!
...or Salomon MTNs or anything else, it seems. I’d forget alpinists too: had a bit of a look last week. No likey.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@BobinCH, im with you , on my first few tours no problems , then first time I really needed the xenics to function 100% , failure !!! not quite as bad as yours but on dodgy high consequence terrain in 100kph+ winds a long way from home it took two of us to manage to lock the toe pieces in without snapping the whole thing off !!
they will be sold as soon as I get home from canada and back on the Tectons
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
KenX wrote:
Maybe something simple like Speed Turns, ah, not new/sexy enough.......
The people in this thread certainly make ski touring very complicated.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
davidof wrote:
KenX wrote:
Maybe something simple like Speed Turns, ah, not new/sexy enough.......
The people in this thread certainly make ski touring very complicated.
hence the term wallies ????
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
clarky999 wrote:
@BobinCH, have you not tried Shifts? Definitely less faff the the new Marker (and no toe pieces to be dropped during transitions ). Glad you didn't fall off with the skis though!
i wouldnt fancy a 7hr skin/hike with shifts
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Mother hucker wrote:
clarky999 wrote:
@BobinCH, have you not tried Shifts? Definitely less faff the the new Marker (and no toe pieces to be dropped during transitions ). Glad you didn't fall off with the skis though!
i wouldnt fancy a 7hr skin/hike with shifts
Yep have shifts on the Blizzards. They seem to work pretty well except the brakes engage in touring mode every now and then. As above problem here was the length of the hike. That’s why I went with the lightest gear. If it says DIN up to 10 then shouldn’t it work like that? Both skis coming off in a turn where you don’t even fall is ridiculous. I was literally standing there with both skis pinged off. It seems if you really bend the skis the PIN’s just release or the heels twist?!?!
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@Sharkymark, what didn't you like about Alpinists?
Pretty happy with the ski and touring performance of my Plum Guides except that the brakes have fallen off one heel piece and it looks like you need to take the whole heel piece off the ski to screw it back on.
They were working loose all week but finally popped off in my ski bag on the way home so I suppose the timing wasn't so bad. Only went with brakes to reduce likelihood of a Lofoten-style runaway ski at transition so considering just going back to brakeless and hoping for the best
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:
went with brakes to reduce likelihood of a Lofoten-style runaway ski at transition
@BobinCH, im with you , on my first few tours no problems , then first time I really needed the xenics to function 100% , failure !!! not quite as bad as yours but on dodgy high consequence terrain in 100kph+ winds a long way from home it took two of us to manage to lock the toe pieces in without snapping the whole thing off !!
they will be sold as soon as I get home from canada and back on the Tectons
I actually wonder if it’s the heel piece. It twists under force (as designed to put in your mode) and there doesn’t seem to be a way to lock it? Or maybe I’m missing something?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@BobinCH, to stop Shift brakes re-engaging in skinning mode you just need to clean properly under the area where the lever goes over to lock them into touring mode. Simple test - when you flick a brake arm with one finger, if it pops open then you need to clean more. When properly engaged the brake lock works very well - you can press really quite hard on the brake arm without it popping out. (No commercial link to Salomon by the way..!).
@Arno, I bought a pair of Alpinists to stick on my fat skis for Kyrgyzstan purely based on the fact that it would mean drilling the least number of new holes as they were previously mounted with kingpins - first choice would have been MTNs...
Alpinists:
No toe-stop, so stepping in is more of a faff than Salomon/Atomic MTN etc.
Risers, unless you are very flexible then have have to take the ski off to rotate the heel piece 180º for flat, rotate it back 180º for 5º, rotate it back through 180º again for 9º. Mostly I left it where it was and used the 5º as the terrain is relatively conducive to this, but on any tour where the skin track angle changes a lot that would be a pain in the backside. Also rotating the heel piece with lat release set at 10 is extremely difficult.
Brakes. Not convinced by that thin bit of wire. Plenty of cleaning needed to get it to hold. Also not convinced by their website video of 'push the clip in and stomp down the brake' as that is the user error that screws up most peoples Kingpins (different system, but still...).
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@BobinCH, if your bindings are pre-releasing then maybe you need to reconsider your din settings??
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?
Mother hucker wrote:
clarky999 wrote:
@BobinCH, have you not tried Shifts? Definitely less faff the the new Marker (and no toe pieces to be dropped during transitions ). Glad you didn't fall off with the skis though!
i wouldnt fancy a 7hr skin/hike with shifts
Then you'd probably fancy it even less with the (heavier) Duke PT mention I responded too
But yes, much over 1200m vert becomes a slog with Shifts.
@BobinCH, if your bindings are pre-releasing then maybe you need to reconsider your din settings??
Not sure moving it from 9 to 10 is going to make much difference. Unless there is a light tech binding with much more reliable performance I’m moving to Shift or (looks even more secure to me) Duke pt for the challenging stuff and just have to get fitter for the up...
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@BobinCH
Quote:
offpisteskiing wrote:
Quote:
@BobinCH, if your bindings are pre-releasing then maybe you need to reconsider your din settings??
Not sure moving it from 9 to 10 is going to make much difference. Unless there is a light tech binding with much more reliable performance...
Wondering if it could be build-up of snow under the spring/lever mechanism of the toe-piece, so that although you appear to have clicked in OK they have not gone right down, so the toe pops under just slight pressure.
I ski G3-ions, which have a "tunnel" under the pin mech which is designed to allow clearance of snow build-up, as you can poke your pole-tip etc underneath to clear the snow
@BobinCH,
Is there a way you can get the Xenic binding release tested? Maybe with the installation of the shims something changed.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
DB wrote:
@BobinCH,
Is there a way you can get the Xenic binding release tested? Maybe with the installation of the shims something changed.
Don’t know. I actually think it’s the heel rotating too easily so nothing to do with shins. First time it happened was pre-shims.
@offpisteskiing Duke pt 12 is same weight as shift and 16 only slightly more:
The Duke PT (Pin Technology) comes in two models, the Duke PT 16 (6-16 Din Range) and the Duke PT 12 (4-12 Din Range). The Duke PT is competitive in its weight class and the 12 weighs just 850 grams in uphill mode and 1,090 grams in downhill mode. The Duke PT 16 is only slightly heavier, weighing in at 1,000 grams in uphill mode and 1,280 grams in downhill mode (vs. 850g (Shift), 1000g uphill, 1530g downhill (CAST), 566g (Dynafit Radical).
@BobinCH, if your bindings are pre-releasing then maybe you need to reconsider your din settings??
Not sure moving it from 9 to 10 is going to make much difference. Unless there is a light tech binding with much more reliable performance I’m moving to Shift or (looks even more secure to me) Duke pt for the challenging stuff and just have to get fitter for the up...
There are plenty of light tech bindings that are more reliable tgan your experience so far. They sound a nightmare and must be wrecking your mind in sticky situations.
I was skiing with a ESF instructor/mountain guide whos sponsored by Volkl/Marker. Fair to say he was skiing harder than most on his marker alpinists popping of stumps and launching off rollers.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
^^ The new puppy (14 months) got his introduction to touring last week.
^^ Typical Collie, he's obsessed with sticks an will make his own entertainment.
^^ No problem with the climbs or descents, although i had to up his feed.
^^ Although some 'education' was required regarding skin track etiquette
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
BobinCH wrote:
Round 2 in better weather and putting the hammer down. Almost 500m/h...
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