Women’s lightweight touring rig

A snowHead

Any recommendations for a lightweight female specific rig? Looking at Salomon MTN 88, Marker Alpinist 8, Atomic Backland boots https://www.sport-conrad.com/en/products/atomic/backland-expert-w-sc.html

Wife is a strong skier, narrow feet ex Lange Alpine boots and Dalbello Lupo 130 Freeride boots. Want significantly lighter all round so she can hold her own with the testosterone crew. Downhill performance is a 2nd priority

A snowHead

Well, I can tell you what I’ve got, and everyone who picks up my skis is in awe at how light they are, and they’re not small either.

Tecnica zeroG women’s boots
Marker Alpinist
Scott Superguide 95 in 168

No downhill performance compromise required Very Happy

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

Narrow feet might not work with those Tecnica boots, though the men’s version might be ok if she’s got skinny legs as well. But you know about boot fitting, so I’ll leave it at that.

Edited for spelling Embarassed

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@BobinCH, movement make some great value light weight skis , some of the ladies on our Norway trip rated them highly , the new axess could fit the bill , mtn binding and fisher cs travers boot are some other options

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Well my OH would get very annoyed at the male of the household asking this question on behalf of their Mrs Laughing

She is a strong tourer and good skier, and has been very frustrated at the lack of women fat touring skis over the past four or five seasons, in most cases women have to make do with men's skis when it comes to anything above 100 wide.

Though she does at least have Scott Womens SG boots.

Anyhow she vented her spleen here and talks about the holy grail of womens touring skis and her purchase, though not a pure womens touring ski, it does have the width in the length she wanted, though not too sure @BobinCH, would approve of the binding selection Laughing

https://stylealtitude.com/all-the-new-gear-and-no-idea-whats-happening.html

And irony on irony she's still in the UK whilst I babysit her pride and joy Very Happy

After all it is free

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I (male) apparently have very, very narrow ankles and pretty small feet and the Niklas's at Concept ultimately dis put me into Zero-G Pros ... Technica's are not very wide... mind you, for all their boots they've only stocked the narrowest lasts .. 'cos ...

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@under a new name, the issue with the zeroG pro for a woman is that it has a narrow cuff that finishes quite high compared to the women’s model. Skinny legs, or probably just a bit taller, and it might work, but I noped out after about 30 sec...

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@Scarlet, ahhh, but girlies don't need such a beefy boot do they? and the girly versions are in nicer pastel colours, non?

The missus already has some beefy Dalbellos with pin holes and 96mm skis with shifts so really looking for circa 1000g boots and max 1200g skis

You know it makes sense.

Anything in the Volkl V-Werks range? They are a beautiful layup in carbon whenever I've looked at them, not tried any though.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Lovely review of the Backlands Very Happy

Basically Nordic boots
I skied a whole season in these. Hated them the whole time. They are amazingly comfortable on the climb but you pay for it skiing down. When I flex the boot in ski mood the whole boot kind of collapses outward- super soft plastic with little to no support. there is also a weak connection point right above the bar the holds you in ski mode. I broke both boots in this spot within 5-6 tours. These boots are honestly awful. I also weigh 130 lbs, so I’m not putting massive force on these. Hopefully next year’s boot is better. Atomic has a lot of great product, but these are not that.

Length of ownership 3-6 months
Eh oh!

No, I do not recommend this product.

A snowHead

@under a new name, Toofy Grin

I guess there's the Scout, which I think is navy blue and somewhere in between, but not stocked where I got fitted. Mine are white, which is acceptable, except that my alpine boots are white too, which may turn out not to be acceptable if I ever have to be somewhere very early at short notice Confused

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

On a cautionary note, post-Brexit use of Sport Conrad's great prices could leave you open to hefty import charges - seemingly unknown until the point of delivery... Confused

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/21/britons-buying-from-eu-websites-face-more-than-100-import-duties

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What is the difference between mens and womens skis?

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@Scarlet, I know of a certain UIAGM guide (lead guide on expedition in question) who got all the way to South Georgia to discover he'd brought his wife's skis (same model/bindings) and no immediate solution to get them to fit his rather larger boots ... Shocked

After all it is free

In this weight category you can't beat the Scott Speedguide 80 or 89.

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@under a new name, Never do his 'n' hers skis. Or boots for that matter. It won't end well Toofy Grin

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BobinCH,

An understatement to say you are not putting massive force on your boots. It's shocking that they've knackered under your 9 stones. Shocked

You know it makes sense.

Have a look at the Alptracks range from Movement for skis and Scarpa Gea RS for boots. Any light tech binding from Dynafit, Plum or any reputable company would do.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@BobinCH,

My Mrs, also a strong skier and ski tourer for years, loves her Salomon MTN 88’s and Marker Alpinist 8’s.

Can’t comment on boots particularly. My wife (wide feet) loves her Scott’s, my daughter (narrow feet) loves her Zero G’s.

A snowHead

A snowHead

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

Thing is that whilst there are many skis for women that work well in Spring conditions, my OH was frustrated when we were touring in winter and skiing powder etc not only here but Japan

Whilst we guys were on anything from 108 to 117 her option was her Noridica El Nina 110s and Fritschi Tecton, still a cracking ski for women but after a couple of years she did the math and worked out she was carrying far more weight than us Laughing

She worked out
A quick bit of maths shows that for a mid-length tour (5-6km) we’re taking around 10,000 steps, so saving 500g per ski/binding equates to 5 tonnes less needing to be moved up the hill.

More on her calculations here

So that's the additional part of the equation what width and it is ironic that all the men ski big fat skis and expect the women to make do with <100mm but there again I suppose the women could claim to have better technique in the pow and not need the help of that additional width Laughing

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@BobinCH, it's not so much your feet but your ankles that matter ... tight pockets required (not just 'cos I'm a Scotsman wink

)

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@BobinCH,
Yep, those ones. She loves them.
Like you I have the male version but in green, not yellow.

After all it is free

@BobinCH,
I would still be looking at the Atomic Backland boots despite that earlier review, maybe also see if you can find any Scarpa Alien RS or Dynafit TLT6s which are both quite low volume.

@BobinCH, last is 100 not 104 as stated , typo for sure

Ankle hold is good and fit out of the box is very good , the boa system cinches down really well to give excellent ankle hold , and the walk mode is soo comfortable that no need to undo buckle and straps on transition is a real bonus

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Decision time... Have plumped for @Spyderjon’s Speedguide 80’s with @Gorilla’s ATK Crests and the Technica Zero-G Scouts. Not a truly lightweight boot but she’s ditching so much weight this setup will feel like walking on air. And hoping the Zero-G’s will have some future freeride potential. Current Dalbello’s are a 98 last so the Technica 99 should be manageable. Thanks to all for all the ideas and personal recommendations as always snowHead

Help!!

Women’s lightweight touring rig

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