First ski touring set up.

A snowHead

I am looking for my first touring set up. I have used treckkers in the past for the odd day tour but am a beginner in this field.

Intend to use the skis for several trips to Scotland and 2 weeks in Verbier.

I am 29, 185cm, 85kg and an athletic skier. Have raced for 3 years, instructed for two seasons and like mucking around in the park a bit. I also like steeps and drops and tend to break bindings so I normally use STH 16s.

I currently have Hellbents, Seths and race skis.

I've been looking at 189 Scott Punishers with Adrenaline bindings, 178 Missions or Goode Carbon 82 with Fritschis depending on what people recommend for weight.

I intend to use my Nordica Ace of Spades boots as they are comfier than my spray on Vacuum 130s. Do I need to buy AT boots?

A snowHead

I think you'll probably get two different answers in this thread as to full tour + pin binding set up, and the frame style bindings you've detailed above.

From personal experience, I used Salomon quest access 110 boots with marker barons on powder planks (atomic charter 186's) and marker tour F12's on volkl amak 186's (skinnier underfoot) .

I've used them for 2 seasons and had a blast, the boots don't offer the same range of motion as full AT boots, and the weight per foot is noticeably higher than the lighter tech St ups.

So, after trying it out and realising I enjoy this new style of skiing, I'm now scouring classifieds and trying to switch onto the full set up. Seems to be a good way to do it, buy the more versatile and readily available 'slack-country' stuff first, and then convert over when you're sure its the right discipline for you.

Main mistake I made was attitude towards keeping boots 'comfy' , which actually led to a full tour of heel slip but not noticed until the top. Put me out for a week with a stamp sized blister that I just couldn't get to heal quickly.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@smokeyjack2000,

Think it depends what you are planning to do. Are you thinking you will mainly be doing lift-served "slack country" - skinning over a ridge to get at bowl or valley? Full on day tours from the valley? Hut to hut?

I get the impression it might be all of the above.
If it is slack country I might just look for a second hand pair of frame bindings like F12 and remount one of your current pairs. If you are going to do longer tours then I think you should be looking at AT boots. If you do that I would keep open the option of tech bindings even if you don't go there immediately.

Could do it like this
1. remount existing skis, buy AT boots with tech fittings
2. later buy lighter skis with tech bindings. I think you can still go wider than 100mm if you get a lightweight construction. I bought whitedot ranger carbonlites for example

FWIW I'm now expecting to use my rangers/beasts/AT boots for most of my skiing, including lift served. If the snow is thin, hard or I just feel like charging around the pistes then I'll take out alpine boots and skis.

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@smokeyjack2000, what sort of touring do you expect to do?

Alpine boots in frame bindings (marker baron etc) are fine for short hikes to lines, but anything that takes more than an hour or two up is going to suck.

Dynafit style tech bindings are WAY more efficient going up, and make long tours on powder skis (I did 4060m Gran Paradiso on 120mm skis last season) feasible. They traditional dynafits ski powder just fine, but suck ABSOLUTE balls on hard snow. Think the vibrations on Ralph Hariss' musical board thing...

HOWEVER, if you get into longer tours it's inevitable that you will progress into tech bindings. Seems like the new style Dynafits (Beast, Radical 2.0) should ski a lot nicer too.

Boots with a walk mode are REALLY nice to have. I use Technica Cochise Pro Lights, which ski as well as any alpine binding I've had (mind I've never owned really high performance race boots), and are light enough for long tours. Sure there are plenty of boots that tour better, but I think they're about as good a compromise between ski and uphill performance as there is.

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So if you want the cheapest set up possible, just buy some Barons/Guardians/etc and put them on your Seths (which gen btw? If they're the OG Seths maybe you want to upgrade anyway?). Maybe add some freeride-touring (stupid able, but you know what I mean) boots too. OR put Dynafit Beasts on them with compatible boots (a la the Cochises) for a more expensive but better touring set up.

If you're looking at really going light weight with carbon skis, you really should look at tech bindings. They make WAY more difference than saving weight on the skis: with frame bindings you lift the whole binding with every step; with dynafits your boot just pivots around the toe pins, saving you 500g on every step. There's little point buying super light skis and putting heavy frame bindings on them; you're far better off putting tech bindings on a heavier ski.

I know some people like going skinny and light for touring skis, but personally I don't see the point in lugging skis up a hill unless I'm going to enjoy the downhill. Best touring skis I've had so far were 4FRNT Ehps - 116mm underfoot but very straight, so tips n tails still easily fit in skin tracks. Plan to upgrade to 4FRNT Hojis for similar reasons this season.

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BTW, if you're looking at Goode skis, there are some good deals on SportPursuit atm: http://www.sportpursuit.com/join/Matt_Clark_63de4d (yes, yes, I get credit to spend if you click through there NehNeh

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@clarky999,

looks like we are in violent agreement Very Happy

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Thanks for all the advice everyone. I see the split between the technical and AT bindings being the main factor and I dont think I can afford a full new set up without trying the AT route first .

Sadly my OG Seths are on their 3rd mount and have seen a lot of rails over the last year so probably not appropriate therefore I shall need new skis.

Initially I was fairly set on Scott Punishers at 108mm underfoot and 189cm but with a weight of 2200g per ski I'm not sure I've got the minerals to push them uphill!

I've googled far too many lighter options from DPS, Cham HMs, Coombacks, Husquarans and Blends and settled upon Faction Agent 90 or 100 in 186cm length. They are 1310g and 1480g per ski respectively.

With bindings I might as well go as light as possible in the AT market so I am going to go with Tyrolia AAAmbitions with a DIN of 12 and a weight of just over 1kg per foot.

I think this will give me the lightest set up with least sacrifice to downhill performance for the least cash.

Does this seem about right? I think around 2.5kg per foot seems light enough until I know I am really into the uphill. Not sure I need a 100 waisted ski for but the extra weight seems negligible.

Thanks again.

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First ski touring set up.

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