I've got a yellow sofa too. I'm not sure what that confirms about me
I don’t have any involvement in those decisions!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
BobinCH wrote:
......Wally alert! No more excuses...
Well as long as you remembered to buy the skins as well
My 105 SuperGuides came this week, but my Xenic's are in the UK along with the skins I had to buy as my Scott Cascade skins do not fit the 105's
So I do have a nigh-on brand new pair of Scott Casacade skins that are 108 wide and would fit a 175 ski or thereabouts, depends on if you have holes for attachments in the skis.
I go back to the UK for a few days before Xmas so will bring all the goodies back with me.
Did some sweet slack country on the opening day of the season here in Serre Che to escape the hordes, also filmed skinning along with kick turns with the drone.
But I have other skins without tails and only recently as skis lost some stickiness I did have some issues but have now reglued them.
First outing on the Xenics and all good so far.
And why we earn our turns.....snow was a tad technical, combine that with new skis and on a descent that I have not skied for a while as last time I did my ACL so brain feck fairies were out in force
@Weathercam, nice! Not bad pace for an old boy
What skis?
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.
@Weathercam, very nice and inspiring for me as have an instructor booked this afternoon for first attempt at touring. On which device are you recording your trips? I have a Garmin 935 which has XC Ski and Downhill Ski modes but not one specifically for touring.
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
@Ozboy, id say that was strava
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@BobinCH, skis are Scott Super Guides 105 which they no longer make.
I use a Suunto Ambit Peak which uploads to Strava.
Just been looking at snow behind where we live on a S facing slope and SE/S facing had transformed at 13:30 so might do a Spring ski tour route tomorrow after an hour's alpine with my daughter.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Nice looking descent. I have to admit to feeling a little sea sick watching your footage. Any chance you might keep your upper body a bit more stable?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@zzz, that's not me filming this time
Just been a saddo and weighed new skis* and skins vs my heavy Black Crows & skins and there's just under a kilo in it for each ski
*obviously my 88's weigh way less!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I’m glad to hear it!
88. A bit of a sweet spot for touring IMO.
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?
Did my first ever wally skin today up a 350m climb to the Point de Chesery in Chatel and I reckon 500m descent in good powder. and had an awesome afternoon and learned lots from our guide and cant wait to go again. Probably a solo 800m up the local pistes later in the week. Biggest issue was boot popping out of shift binding on the same ski on off-camber bits. Ended up swapping skis with guide and he also had same problem - while I really noticed the difference his light setup makes. It seems problem with binding is there are 2 clicks required when locking the pins but unknown to me (RTFM next time!) we were only able to engage the first click on that ski which may have been due to icing in the mechanism. My new Tecnica Cochise boots were great in walk mode and they have been excellent when skiing downhill all week.
No snow in the PDS, no, none whatsoever. Only ever rains here
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Ozboy, looks like a great sortie!
zzz wrote:
......88. A bit of a sweet spot for touring IMO......
Agree though all depends on the snow-pack.
For instance, touring in Japan in February 105's will be the weapon of choice.
And we* have a spare place!
BobinCH wrote:
@Weathercam, say hello to Costin!
He's gone back now.
I think he's sown his legs back on now after I tore them off
Going out soon, no rush as snow not fully cooked till around 13:30 exploring an area I've had my eyes on for years, as all the main touring areas I've heard are busy as well!
*we = my OH and KenX
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Weathercam, when and where? I may be there
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@Ozboy, I found the front mechanism of the Shifts to be really stiff and still have to use a ski pole horizontally under the lever to raise into the required (near vertical) locked position - what I initially suspected to be icing was actually just a stiff mechanism - lots of force is required! If not properly locked then I also stepped out of the toe pins when traversing steeper slopes
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@oui4ski, When I bought my Shifts from The Piste Office, Jon said to cycle the front lever 20-30 times before first use to wear them in, otherwise they can be very stiff when cold.
I had the same with the walk mode on my Beasts, but they actually had to be filed down to get them to operate at all.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@PowderAdict, That's good advice thanks (I got mine from Jon too) - some cycling is now planned when I'm back in Verbier!
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.
Took a mate out for his third or so ski tour today, and he's a very good ski racer, but he hit the buffer zone at around 2,200m which is so often the case.
Was well chuffed as it's an area so close to home and I've spent many a summer hike trying to find the best route rather than a long an arduous path that is a popular winter snowshoe track.
As you can see from the video had a few issues with navigation early on and once, literally out of the woods was not to bad an ascent, and for only the second time ever saw a big family of wild board/piglets.
And was so damn hot that we were down to t-shirts on the up.
Was hoping for better spring snow, but was still good though a tad technical to ski at times with the skis digging in through the crust/crud.
We only saw two other groups and they were a good 750m away from us and the whole sector is a great playground.
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
From experience I s skinning up the sides of pistes and cat tracks while lifts open really doable or just too dangerous given skiers coming the other way? Asking as thinking of practicing and doing around 800m vertical but solo and not venturing off-piste.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Ozboy, have you checked if there are any ski rando resort routes?
Just that many resorts now have them and a lot safer than going up the piste especially in this the crazy season.
Would be very stressful to do it with so many idiots around.
Or stick a headtorch on and leave at 07:00 !
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
With the resort being a mobbed the family have been doing first lifts and then skiing till the queues are no longer fun.
With yesterday being New Year's Eve and knowing it would be a long night, we canned the idea of first lifts and had a lazy start to the day, with the plan of taking dogs up the hill and a little tourette.
I knew I could leave it late due to snow only transforming circa 13:30 and strategy was to go up around lunchtime and hope to grab a parking spot from some Frenchie rushing off back down the valley for lunch, and sure enough, that was indeed the case, as there were handfuls of them skiing down having gone up early not thinking about the snowpack and then skiing frozen shite on the way back down
One of twin daughter's has totally lost all confidence on skis so she went on snow-shoes, the other used my OH's boots and her skis, whilst my OH climbed up in her downhill boots!
Going up was the inevitable photo-shoot and I was no great rush as the snow was still cooking. Daughter on skis though was having issues with the boots so we only did just under 300m and then the fun started as the snow-pack was quite varied.
Her first turn was on a mixture of powder in the process of transforming to spring snow, not at all easy and she stacked it, and luckily ski released as was a quite a slow fall, but that was enough for the brain feck fairies to do their thing, as five years ago she did her ACL!
So had to do a couple of long traverses to then find some nice easy turns to get her confidence back, and then a couple of minutes later I'm shouting at her to slow down as the snow-pack can change so quickly and catch her out.
That really is the issue when taking an intermediate piste skier touring this time of year and if they have no technique to ski shite snow then it can be very difficult if you encounter it, but she was putting some decent turns in all the way down.
Good Spring snow March April is a different story and most piste skiers can handle that without too many issues, but twas a good afternoon and saved me buying passes
And my other daughter on the snow-shoes started her descent after we had a little break and I pointed out to her where we'd parked up and where to head for, but on the way down she became a little disorientated so had her ringing me just as I was trying to coax her sister down, fun n'games
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
anyone skied the new xenic binding yet , interested to hear some on snow reviews
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Dabber, skied and toured on them three times so far in the past week or so, and a couple of piste blasting sessions too.
First tour was sort of powder but not the sort of temps where you might have issues with icing up.
And in a post above I comment on how I went at a fair pace and did not use the heel riser until I was breaking trail in powder.
As for ease of entry, I can confirm that they are the best tech binding I've ever used for getting in, and I've used a selection of Dynafiddles over the years, along with Vipecs and Tectons. I did read about possible issues on the rear when trying to click in the rear in powder but I did not encounter that.
It was only when looking at the official video did I see that there was another better technique for locking the brakes
The only negative is pulling up the lever to lock into walk mode, it's quite stiff, but might well ease up with use, a bit like the Shift issues.
It certainly is a light setup and very economical, time will tell as to how durable etc
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?
Weathercam wrote:
The only negative is pulling up the lever to lock into walk mode, it's quite stiff, but might well ease up with use, a bit like the Shift issues.
Good to know. Didn’t move when I tried to pull it - thought it didn’t lock #wally
@Weathercam, cheers , looking to lighten up my full touring set up with the xenics , and then reuse the Tectons on a new pair of fatty tourers , black crow Ferox , pleased to hear the step in is as good as the tecton .
ps do you think a 95mm brake would fit a 98 mm wide ski with no fouling
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
BobinCH wrote:
@Weathercam, say hello to Costin!
hello Sir. Got myself a place in Serre Che so I am spending a bit of time there nowadays. Messrs Weathercam and KenX are showing me the goods. Hope all is well.
hello Sir. Got myself a place in Serre Che so I am spending a bit of time there nowadays. Messrs Weathercam and KenX are showing me the goods. Hope all is well.
Nice one! Enjoy
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Ozboy wrote:
From experience I s skinning up the sides of pistes and cat tracks while lifts open really doable or just too dangerous given skiers coming the other way? Asking as thinking of practicing and doing around 800m vertical but solo and not venturing off-piste.
Well a descending skier should be able to avoid you - but locally it was crazy busy with ski tourers climbing open pistes before Christmas - they've largely vanished now. I couldn't really understand it as there was lots of good ski touring available but "resort touring" seems to be a bit of a craze not helped by ski manufacturers like Dynafit promoting it.
A couple of weeks ago I came round a blind bend to find half a dozen ski tourers plodding up the piste and later on a big group traversing the piste - this in a resort where it is quite easy to avoid the ski runs when climbing for most of the way - but ski tourers seem pretty lazy and like nice smooth ski pistes to climb rather than breaking trail. Personally I'm completely against climbing open runs and it is totally against the spirit of ski touring.
The other big thing here is ski touring in resort after hours, there was a girl who was nearly decapitated the other day at Allevard when she skied into a winch cable of a piste basher at night and there have been other incidents in previous seasons. Remember these cables may stretch over several hundred meters and are completely invisible. People have also been run over by piste bashers at night (no idea how but it happens). Then there is avalanche control work - this photo I took earlier this week around 8am with them blowing the Vallons du Pra in the 7 laux - a popular touring route.
After all it is free
After all it is free
BobinCH wrote:
Weathercam wrote:
The only negative is pulling up the lever to lock into walk mode, it's quite stiff, but might well ease up with use, a bit like the Shift issues.
Good to know. Didn’t move when I tried to pull it - thought it didn’t lock #wally
Now that made me chuckle
Hopefully some off the back slack country circa Noon
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.
I'm enjoying this thread but as someone who takes "Clients" out regularly for Day Tours I note that most of you choose to descend without helmets. Not a risk I accept with paying customers so, conscious risk assessment and decision or just can't be bothered to carry them up?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@RedandWhiteFlachau, are you a qualified guide then? As most I know do not wear a lid when touring, and when asked say it is up to you whether to wear one, and around these parts, and probably in the many other locations I've ski toured in I'd say as much as 75% ski tour without a lid.
More people probably now ski-tour with an ABS over a helmet, which is probably the more safer option!
In fact I'd profer the thought that the only ones ski touring with a helmet tend to be the people doing it as a one-off or second or third sortie. That said a fair number of Brits I know do take a helmet.
I do have a lightweight Petzel ski touring / mountaineering helmet but only choose to use that if the terrain is severe, the chance of rockfalls/rappelling etc
I always think it is ironic that people learning XC inc children do not wear a helmet as there's a much higher chance of needed one on your learning curve!
Some sweet slack country yesterday, taking the lifts up, then skiing off the back and then skinning back up into resort, with the liftie impressed as to what we've done then letting us not have to queue
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
#wally
