 Poster: A snowHead
|
I'm a good skier, slightly overweight, late 40s, living close to the hills and I want to try ski touring.
I've done a lot of snowshoeing, I like the uphill, but I'd prefer the downhill bits to be more fun and over quickly.
I know I can hire kit for a day, but I want to know what is the cheapest way into the activity? I don't mind a bit of hardship and discomfort in the beginning as I will upgrade my kit later as budget allows. I don't want to do long tours, just the odd 2-3 hours up, ski down for the sake of fitness. A lot of people here skin up the side of a 3km long green run, then ski down the piste and I quite like the idea of that. I don't really care about the back country element. It's more a fitness/independence thing.
The questions for me are, do I buy a cheap package at Decathlon.fr, make do with old bits recustomed from my cellar, buy 2nd hand off Ebay etc. What corners can I cut, budgetwise?
- Boots. These seem to be essential. I love my new alpine boots (K2 Spyne), but although they're quite a soft flex I don't think I could skin far in them and I'd be worried about damaging the inner. I have an old pair of alpine boots in my cellar that are still serviceable and softish flex. Alternatively I could buy 2nd hand of Ebay, or fork out for a new pair.
- Bindings. I know that there are pros and cons to a light/heavy weight set up regarding whether the emphasis is on climbing or skiing. Do plate bindings work with touring boots with the higher toepiece thingy?
- Skis. Again, I have an old pair of skis in my cellar. Would a solution be to mount touring bindings to them? They're quite heavy and long, though as I'm 10kgs overweight, will it make much difference spending 500 euros to save 500g per ski?
- Skins. Either second hand off Ebay or new. Not a big saving either way.
- Avalanche beacon. I'll be doing this alone, mostly on gentle slopes, in well populated areas. Do I need to fork out extra for the 3 antenna ones, or will a base model do?
Yes, I will invest in a few guided touring days, to improve my knowledge before I venture out.
Thanks in advance for your help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
@snoozeboy,
If you change your first line to late 50's then I might have written the same post as you a couple of years ago 
I actually bought a complete set of gear, excluding a transcveiver which I already had, at a very good price from someone on this forum. (As an aside I find that people on here generally describe the equipment much more honestly than is general on ebay).
To be honest the boots were too big and the skis too long but it got me going just walking up the side of the pistes as you describe, even being quite amazed that you can skin up quicker than some of the slow chairlifts 
I have written a couple of posts about it here :-
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=99918&highlight=
I have since changed skis, to very lightweight ones that are not brilliant for downhill but great for up, and boots for better fitting Technica Cochise that I bought in end of season sales. I have yet to go on a "proper" ski tour but last Christmas with the general scarcity of snow it was great to skin up deserted pistes that only had 150mm of snow on them. There were loads of people doing it and I never had a problem with lift company or anything, (Alpe d'Huez), in fact the pisteurs that did come past all gave a friendly bonjour and/or nod of the head. The only thing was being rather demoralised by the obvious regulars who you caught sight of as you traversed and appeared to be miles behind only to be passed by them within a few minutes and then see them disappearing into the distance in front of you. All had friendly encouraging words though In truth I made judgements on the snow conditions and never took the avi gear with me.
Alpe du Grand Serre, a small resort near Grenoble did have a ski touring itinerary last year, which is secured but they still reccommend you have AVi gear, you descend on the pistes. I was going to try it last year but ran out of time. Not sure if it is being run this year or if anywhere else does the same.
Be interested to hear how you get on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
You don't want to use heavy skis, extra weight means extra sweat. not bad in theory but it'll knock your stamina pretty bad and make the experience a lot LOT harder.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
You can split this into two main parts:
Boots and Bindings. In theory alpine boots can work in plate bindings, but compatibility is not universal. Also there are many advantages to touring boots (weight, range of forward movement, a useful sole for walking), so I'd suggest you go for touring boots. There are differences between plate and insert (the dynafit-style) bindings but I wouldn't worry about this too much, and you can be driven by price
Skis and skins. The skins need to fit the skis to a certain extent. Lack of full base coverage is OK most of the time, but can be a problem in more technical terrain, and some types of snow can build-up heavily on exposed bases. So, ideally you'd get skis and skins together (though having said that I started touring on 195cm GS skis - oh well). In general, if you have an existing pair of alpine skis you can mount alternate bindings on them, though I'd only recommend doing this once, otherwise you'll start to weaken the ski
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
If you want to get into it as cheaply as possible, buy a second hand pair of Marker Baron or Tour bindings (or Fritschi Freeride if more touring and not skiing hard on the way down) and mount them on whatever skis you have now. Buy some skins (probably new as you'll have to cut them to fit), and use them with your current boots for now.
If you like it, then definitely worth buying boots with a good walk mode (like the Cochises mentioned above, which ski pretty much like an alpine boot so can be used for everything). At that point also make sure they are compatible with tech bindings (have the inserts to accept the pins) - if you really get into touring, you will end using pinch bindings at some stage, so best to future proof. Tbh, if you can afford it, boots with a walk mode will make it a lot less work, but 2-3 hours is certainly possible with alpine boots.
If you're going up the pistes you obviously don't need avalanche kit. If you start going into the backcountry, you need to educate yourself to a level where you don't need to ask that question  Won't help much if you're alone though anyway.
I wouldn't worry about lightweight skis, unless you start really long tours. Swapping to tech bindings makes far more of a difference. There are plenty of people doing reasonably long tours on standard skis with dynafits - just use whatever skis you want to ski down on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Suggest to start by borrowing/renting a pair of skis with touring bindings and skins to try it out. You'll be fine in Alpine boots especially on gentle terrain - just open all the buckles.
If it floats your boat then you can buy skis/bindings/skins 2nd hand pretty cheaply and decide if you want to fork out for touring boots or just make do with the Alpine ones.
I see you're based very close to me so I can probably lend you some gear if necessary
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks a lot for your replies. Massively helpful.
I was looking on the swiss version of Ebay and there're lots of old touring skis and bindings for between 100-400chf.
However, on decathlon.fr, there's a pack like this for not much more:
http://www.decathlon.fr/pack-skis-fixpeaux-samurai-id_8343430.html
Maybe I just buy the decathlon pack and then get boots either second hand or later. Even if touring turns out to be a fad for me, then I'd quite like a pair of fat skis for powder days.
Opinions?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Wow, those boots are cheap. The only thing is they don't appear to be tech binding compatible, if I ever went that way in the future.
I looked on the sport conrad site and by the time you get to my size (184 tall, 95kg) the skis are 400e anyway, ex bindings and skins. Though I'm suspicious about decathlon quality, they look much cheaper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just started this game and as ever with skiing there will always be compromise and cost elements. I got my bindings and skins from another sH, got them mounted on a pair of oldish Scott Missions which are light enough for ski touring exercise but also capable off piste in most conditions - they were approaching the time of life when there was only the chance of once or twice more through the servicing grinder. I have just bought Scarpa Maestrale - wow what a difference lighter, easier to walk (both on snow and on the footpaths - they have Vibram soles) and I have not noticed any perceptible difference on piste (I am not a racer).
I have found the locals very friendly when you go touring even starting conversations in bars - there seems to be some odd kind of acceptance thing - which is nice.
PS - If you go in a backcountry shop there is some very expensive but very lightweight kit that could easily break a small bank 
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| chocksaway wrote: |
I have found the locals very friendly when you go touring even starting conversations in bars - there seems to be some odd kind of acceptance thing - which is nice. |
Exactly my experience, even though like I said above, I have never gone on a "proper" tour. There is another thread on here about ski touring being banned somewhere and stories of skitourers zig-zagging across narrow pistes  Not sure were that is going but I hope it does not spread.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
@snoozeboy, I've got a pair of Dynastar Mythic Riders in the 184 length mounted with Fritschi Freeride plus bindings and skins that you can have for cheap if you're interested. The skis are from 2010 but have only been skied for 1 day (Dynastar replaced my old pair that I'd done 2 seasons on as I broke them)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hello @BobinCH, will pm you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
@snoozeboy,
Where are you going to be?
Reason I ask is that I persuaded a mate of mine to give touring a go last season. We went to the local guides office and they said they would give us a call if they had an introductory group forming that week. Sure enough we got call and had a great day in a group of 5 at very reasonable cost. I had prior experience and kit. My mate was directed to the ski shop across the road and hired all the gear (good stuff - dynafit tech bindings) for a very reasonable cost - a fraction of what we thought it would be. It was probably a bundle of equipment that would cost you Euro 1200-1500 retail and he paid 20 for the day I think. So reasonable that on my calculations it would be hard to justify buying unless you toured a LOT (like I say - I have the gear so I get that it is not a purely economic decision).
This was in Les Contamines BTW.
Any way - personally I'd suggest you do a bit of research bout what is on offer in your resort before you buy anything. See how you get on and get a better sense of what blend of weight/width/price makes sense for you before you thinking about buying.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
@jedster, thanks for the advice.
I live near Lausanne and go to Chatel quite a lot (see signature). From where I live near Lausanne, there's a small ski resort (Les Paccots) only about 15 mins from me, which seems fine for touring when the snow is better than it is now. I was thinking of going once a week for an afternoon during the short season there and for short tours in Chatel whenever I'm up there.
I will see what BobinCH means by cheap and compare with the hire possibilities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
.
