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Hiring gear for skinning up mountains.....

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi,

Am going to Les Carroz at easter (hope the snow holds) and quite fancy trying out a bit of skinning for a change/bit of exercise. Also to see whether it is suitable for some bigger ski touring type trips in the future.

Can you hire the skis with the special bindings and special boots, I can't seem to find them on any of the websites.. Or what equipment do you really need?

Cheers,
Peter
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I had no problem hiring touring skis, (with touring bindings) skins, and harscheisen (crampons for skis) at Andermatt. I also hired similar kit (though not harscheisen) at Saas Fee. So hiring is certainly possible at some resorts - but I don't know about Les Carroz. I guess you could hire touring boots - but our gide recommended that we used our standard alpine boots, rather than hire (you walk in them with the bindings loose). The idea being that they will fit you better than hire boots, and you don't buy touring boots until you knew that touring was for you. Of course, you are somewhat more limited in what you can do in an alpine boot -particularly with skis off.
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 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?
prthomas, I have had no trouble hiring the gear on a couple of occaisions, although not tried at Les Carroz. Agree with Achilles - no need to hire the boots if you are only skinning for a couple of hours, ordinary boots fit and work well in normal touring bindings. You will need skins too, plus any safety gear you do not own if you are going off-piste.

A bigger issue might be getting someone to show you how to do it well, and where to go. I presume you will hire a guide or go with someone who knows what they are doing/where they are going, espescially as you are going at a time when some types of avalanche become more common, and will presumably be off the beaten track. You probably have thought this all out already.
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I think I should point out here that skinning up is illegal unless you're in Switzerland, and you can't hire gear - you have to buy your own or sponge it off your mates.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thanks everyone for the replies. We have a private instructor which we have used before in LC which I think we would use for a guide, however we would probably only be skinning up the pisted runs anyway.

Lizzard, thanks for the advice, the biggest problem will be finding rizlas big enough to create a rollie for a mountain Puzzled
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Lizzard, If you are on any of the footpath, touring pistes or GR route in France, skinning up is NOT illegal. If you climb up the side of the piste during piste opening hours with the sole intent of sliding down, you will get bollocked and probably told to booger off. there are plenty of ski touring routes that use prepared pistes for part of that journey and you are not required to buy a lift pass.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Masque, what a complete innocent. Bless.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Lizzard, Got that from the army and the pisteures in Tignes about 5 years ago and from the many guides that dragged me round the rocks of the Northern Alps over 10 years (a long time ago) How have things changed? Just had a memory from a conversation with a BASI team leader in Tignes who was saying the same thing as they were trekking the GR5 loop from Val D over the back to La Plagne across the valley and around the other side via St Foy back to V.D. Confused

edit: the trek follows part of the tout de haut Tarentaise? I did in in the Summer of 77 and I'd love to try it now I've discovered you can slide on the downward sloping bits. I know skinning is very unpopular on pisted areas and within operating hours with the lift companies and must not be done at night on the piste (though I've seen plenty of Army groups out at night both going up and coming down)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
whoops misinterpreted some stuff here - was waiting to see who would try to do the first joke on skinning up and it was me Embarassed

Anyway, there were a few guys skinning up the sides of the piste in LC when we were there at Xmas so I am not sure whether they allow it or not, but will check with a guide first!

Cheers,
Peter
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
prthomas wrote:
...however we would probably only be skinning up the pisted runs anyway.
no No NO!. That means you get the pain but none of the gain!!!! Do no more than about 10m up the piste before doing it for real!

The whole point of using skins is to get places that the lifts don't take you, unless you're sufficiently addicted to do it competitively in which case you see super-fit types legging it up the side of the pistes as part of their training regimes. Take a guide, then a lift to some point below a likely looking peak. Skin to the top of it and then ski down the other side and round back to civilisation. Last time I was in Flaine, I mentioned to our instructor (Yann Westerkamp) I'd had a day on skins the previous year and his face lit up and told us to come back again when we could try a couple of nice runs above Gers, which required a short skin in/out. Unfortunately I've not been back there since to take him up on that.

Whether skinning up pistes (being serious here) is legal or not actually depends on the local bylaws, not national laws. As of this (or maybe last) year, the local commune has made it illegal in Chamonix. No specific ideas about Les Carroz, but I doubt there's a problem, as it's not reknowned for serious back-country stuff.

You should be able to hire skis, skins and harscheisen (as said above use your own boots unless, you're doing any rock-climbing at the top or have a huge walk out), but you'll probably be fairly restricted on the range of skis available. You may have to look in more than one shop though - and maybe even phone a few places first to check/reserve - particularly as Grand Massif is not particularly known as a major back-country area. As for clothing, lots of thin layers are better than a single bulky jacket.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
The only thing I would add about hiring touring gear, is that you can never be totally sure if it is going to be available.

If all the fresh powder has been tracked out after a few days then lots of people will have the same idea about going farther afield. In Engelberg last year our group had to hunt high and low to get everyone fully equiped. Admitedly there were eighteen of us, less a few that already had their own touring gear, but we were able to give the shops two days notice. We were also hiring in mid week in the third week of January which is hardly high season and in a resort like Engelberg which is of reasonable size and well known for off piste, we were surprised that so much kit was already hired out.
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 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.
This might seem a little obvious, but most resorts have shops with internet sites or email addressees. It is possible to book it in advance and save all the trauma. If you're doing it in French, ski randonee is the phrase that pays I believe.

I hired some kit in Grimentz the other week. Almost new atomic sweet daddies with fritschli bindings and brand new coltech (sp) skins. I was dead impressed.

If you can't get any in the resort, snow and rock used to hire out touring kit at a reasonable rate, though the skis (saloman x mountains) and skins were a bit old.

The thing that struck me most about the ones that I hired the other week was that although the cost of ski hire was not excessive, the skins cost a fair bit. In fact, as a proportion of their value it was pretty severe. Perhaps skins only last a few weeks (or maybe the re-glueing is very labour intensive), but although I shredded the backing, the skins themselves still looked pretty good at the end of it.

I always skin in my alpine boots (raichle, which have a nice forward flex), and I think that it's good advice to use boots you're comfy with rather than hiring touring boots. Touring boots are really only necessary if you're going to be doing a lot of walking/climbing without skis on. Trying to get to summits in ski boots (v. slippery on rock) is not for the faint hearted !!

Have a fantastic time, and for goodness sake don't waste time skinning up pistes - there's lifts for that, and the backcountry is a fantastic place to be. In fact, many people enjoy the skinning more than the skiing (especially if the snow is not in good nick).

If you want a quick how to guide, try these short papers on the eagle ski club site :

http://www.eagleskiclub.org.uk/articles.htm

have a great time

d
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