 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi I have a good knowledge of piste ski's and ski head xrc's but I may upgrade to worldcups to go a little faster!
I also have the fatties for those leisurely powder days Volkl gottamas,
I now would like to get slightly more adventurous and move into ski touring, one desire is for instance the Cham-Zermatt high mountain pass, also climbing mount Elbrus is a distinct possibility some time.
Can any oen here make recommendations for books on ski touring, boots for ski touring, ski's for ski touring, poles for ski touring, styles for ski touring, most famous areas of the world for ski touring!!!
basically anything about ski touring.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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plectrum, I posted on your other thread, you reaaly wan't a chat don't you.
Ok, there are three tyes of "Randonner",
1, he that times himself going up and don't care about the descent, we call these people "Snowrunners" and are exceptional atheletes practicing Nordic Skiing on 40 degree slopes. Ultra lightweight kit often torn to shreads or modified to keep weight to an absolute minimum. No downhill performance. UIltra lite Narrow, 62mm foam core/carbon skis. Modified Scarpa F1, Dynafit TLT Titanium Race bindings, Lycra. Kit weight around 2.2kgs!
2, the "Ski-Alpinists" Real Backcountry skiing. Haute Route. The guys/gals off hut to hut for 3-10 days, carring heavy packs, due to the amount of kit needed. A spot of route finding may find them in a sticky spot and climbing gear and skills maybe needed. Downhill performance now becomes important, however weight is still an issue due to extra weight carried and calories burned. Dynastar 4800, Fritchi Explore, Scarpa Spirit 3. Kit Weight 4.5kg
3, "Free-Randonners", or "Smokers  ". The Free skiers hiking/climbing just for a couple of hours to find that less known Powder field or Couloir. Performance is top of the list and Alpine kit is prefered but often impratical or uncomfortable. K2 Apache Chief, Marker Duke Binding, Garmont Endorphine boots. Kit Weight 9kgs!
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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?
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plectrum, SMALLZOOKEEPER's summed it up pretty succinctly. There's a fair bit of crossover between 2 and 3 though, and if you're strong/fit you can probably up the weight a bit for better performance. When I did the Cham-Zermatt route I was on Dynastar 8000s with Fritschi Freerides, another guy in the group was on B3s with Naxo21s (and he was carrying quite a bit of kit too as he was on a 3 week trip with no base camp!).
There seem to be a couple of different camps re poles: collapsible vs fixed, carbon vs ali. Guides have generally advised against collapsible poles as they tend to ..... collapse  . There's absolutely no point whatever in shortening one pole for when you're on a traverse, as when you change direction you have to muck about with switching hands in the turn..something you really don't want to do. Far better to drop your hand down and hold the pole by the shaft. I still prefer the old-fashioned ali poles as it gives you something substantial to hold onto. Carbon poles are really horrible for this unless you put on a huge grip, which rather negates the point. You can get proper touring grips, or poles pre-fitted with grips part way down the shaft; however, I used cycle handlebar tape, which worked fine for a couple of years until it got cut by ski edges in a fall or two.
I'm now in need of new kit as most of mine has died - current preference is for Black Diamond Kilowatt (3.8kg for a 185cm 95mm wide ski) and Fritschi Freeride+. Doesn't look like that's going to be cheap though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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GrahamN, 3.9kg
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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plectrum, Best advice - have a go (with a guide)!  Rent your kit first, and see how you get on. A good, comfortable, sack is just as important as the hardware. I had to abandon a Haute Route once, because of a bad back - caused by an ill-fitting sack.
Sticks - ditto GrahamN, - non-collapsable are best, they don't break easily. Allen and Mikes Backcountry ski book is a good start.
As far as the hardware goes, lighter, thinner = faster uphill. Heavier, fatter = faster, easier downhill. But a much much bigger impact on speed upwards will be your level of fitness.
If it helps - I'm on Scarpa T1 , Tua Big Easy - both of which are a) telemark and b) prehistoric. Mrs Ski uses Scarpa Denalis, Fritchis and K2 Phat Luvs - so we'd fall into category of SZKs list above.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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kinda wanting to develop in the 2 category, impossible to rule out 3 cos it is quick and fun, doubt I will go towards 1 just not that way inclined.
Also SZK if I head out to Chamonix this summer to get kitted out are you generally about?
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plectrum, I'm generally about, unless i'm generally absent. I'm hoping to take Mondays and Tuesdays off, NAKEDZOOKEEPER will be around in my general absence. 
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cool may well visit then for a weekend possibly around bank holiday august, and do a spot of glacier walking.
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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.
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do you have any feed back on atomic's touring range as on their site it doesn't seem to exist! the free and the peak ski's
boots look good just why are the scarpa spirits heavier than the garmont endorphins but more suitable for type 2 touring>
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Atomic Touring/tele skis were dirt cheap in the US as they seemed massively overstocked & undermarketed everywhere. I know that's not a quality review but its worth bearing in mind.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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these dynafits look v nice: FT Mustagh Ata - dynafit
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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.
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plectrum, There are much better skis around.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, cool - but szk back to my other question.
why are the scarpa spirits heavier than the garmont endorphins but more suitable for type 2 touring?
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You know it makes sense.
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plectrum, They're not. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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i guess the info i have been reading must be wrong then!
oops!
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Poster: A snowHead
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plectrum,
Endorphine: 4kg pair size 26.5. Poly-Ester(Commercial Ski Boot Plastic and Carbon reinforced for better lateral force.)
Spirit 3/4: 3.37kg3.75kg. (Pebax. Lighter softer plasic.)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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oops sport conrad talking cack!
put per pair weight for spirit and per boot weight for garmont wihtout indicating!
i see that garmont have a whole range for AT, like g ride and mega ride do you still find that the Scarpa Spirits outperform those?
Also in ultra light boots how much performace do you lose downhill like garmont mega lite? Also what are teh differences when going from 4 buckle to 3? ala spirit 3 / 4
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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?
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plectrum, Are you going to buy boots from me?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, maybe he will use this info for an ebay purchase, go on plectrum... you know you want to
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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graeme, Yep it's a tricky one this, i'd have stuff to say here, but am contributing to the demise of the retail sector!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, ahahah depends depends as tony at sport conrad owes us for a 3 day delay in delivery....bad tony!
SMALLZOOKEEPER, it looks like your plan for world bootfitting retail dominance is in danger!
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SMALLZOOKEEPER,
in all seriousness i will be saving and hopefully making some significant purchases in the summer. I may try and get a weekend hiking etc in Chamonix so this could all tally up to me making a boot purchase at a shop somewhere in Cham Sud!!!
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plectrum, There's a SKISET just opposite Footworks, that would be a good start
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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.
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plectrum,
just done my first 4 day tour so no expert but here are some thoughts on kit:
I'm 5'9" 80kg and used scarpa denalis, ATomic REX 184cm and freerides.
I got this set up because I got good prices on everything, thought it would be excellent for SZK's category 3 and OK for 2.
What I learned:
The set up was very good downhill - comparable to alpine. REX's are 84mm in waist and with 184cm length they floated through crud and slush well and were nice and stable when I let them rip.
Uphill they were a fair amount of work. Something lighter and shorter would have made all those uphill kick turns a little less work and at 4000m you certainly feel the effort.
Conclusion, if I thought the main activity would be multiday tours then I would go for dynafit bindings, 170-180cm skis (mid 80s waist would be good though) and likely a three buckle boot - dynafit/matrix/spirit3 or something. That said, I'd happily do a 4 day trip on my set up again
J
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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my current set-up:
Scarpa Spirit 4
Blizzard Titan 9 (181 cm)
Dynafit bindings
I was pretty pleased with them on a pretty strenuous 6 day tour in the Ecrins. Interestingly, this was by far the beefiest set-up I saw other than that sported by an american couple who i don't reckon were going too far
it was my first extensive use of the dynafits. they are a little bit more of a fiddle than fritschis but their lightness and other factors more than made up for this. definitely not recommended were naxo bindings which didn't seem to cope well with skinning across steep hard slopes very well at all
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FAQ
btw I live near tooting maybe you can do a home delivery service 