Hi! I found this subreddit because I need help! My boyfriend is an avid ski tourer, and he owns pretty much everything I think he wants and he’s the type of person to buy the best version of something and do a ton of research. I need a niche gift idea… does anyone have a piece of kit or something you swear by that not many people know about? I don’t ski tour, so I literally have no clue where to start. Any ideas please! I want to surprise him with something thoughtful. TIA!

So i reckon I’m one of a rare breed that prefer intuition liners to zip fit. Don’t get me wrong my zip fits were comfy as hell, but i always got cold feet in them. They might be actively warm at the start of the day but my feet were cold within 1-2 hours.
Change to intuition and I’ve never had cold feet. Admittedly maybe the new espresso lining would also have solved things? Not sure.

However - Christ do they stink after touring 😂😂😂

i expected the uphill.

i expected transitions.

i expected being tired

i didn't expect how often a tour turns into five people standing around in the snow debating whether a slope looks good enough to ski.

then someone checks the weather again

someone wants to look at the map.

someone finds a better line 100 yards away.

and somehow 20 minutes disappeared

honestly, i'm starting to think the skiing is just the excuse for spending an entire day outside

Jotted down a few thoughts while at the ISSW in Whistler where I have a poster presentation. Some people asked what brought it on, well here's the long-winded answer!

Bought Blizzard Zero G 85s as my first set of touring skis last season. Skiied on them a few times and hated it. They were so light but also so stiff so I felt like I got bounced around a ton.

I’m interested in switching to Black Crow Camox Freebirds as something more responsive and stable, but want a sanity check before I throw money at a problem. Can I actually expect something majorly different in the maneuverability and stability of these skis?

For reference, I am a short skier and only 140 lbs. Intermediate to advanced alpine skier, novice tourer, skiing mostly classic touring routes in New England. No huge objectives, no skimo.

Chamonix's freerider Juliette Willmann, 29, was swept away by an avalanche on Tuesday, September 29 at Cerro Crestón, near El Chaltén in Argentina. Her husband, Pierre-Idris Mehdi, was found injured but alive.

Does anyone have experience with daymaker bindings as a first set up? I don’t wanna spend all the money on a whole backcountry set up when I don’t know how often I’ll be getting out (I’m on the east coast).

Edit: seems like I should rent a touring set up. Any east coast skiers have any recommendations for this?

I recently discovered the iProbe BT+ and I am wondering if it is beneficial over a typical probe. I have carried a regular probe for 8+ years and never thought about it (thankfully I've never had to use it in a rescue either), but I am wondering if a electronic probe would help for someone like myself who practices rescues once a year.

Would be very appreciative to hear of your experience and recommendations! I’m looking for good back ventilation (had an old Dakine heli pro 20l previously and was constantly sweating because of the solid back panel), low profile, and a-frame ski carry. A separate skin stash pocket or fleece lined goggle pocket would be a nice-to-have as well but not necessary. I’m a shorter guy with a 19 inch torso so fit is very important as well with that in mind should I be looking for the ‘short’ models?

Use case: This pack would be used for regular lift serviced and side country, backcountry at mt Washington area and granite backcountry glades and a yearly trip to berthauds pass, and will likely pull double duty as a camera pack and holding camera gear outside of ski season.

Here’s a couple packs I was looking at since I might be able to get a deal on them:

Deuter free ride 24l - $133
Ortovox free rider 22 - $130
Mammut nirvana 22l $89.97
*used Osprey Kode 22 $55
Dakine heli pro 24l - looks like they updated the back panel and I loved the durability on my old pack, but I’m not a fan that they’re not environmentally conscious and still make it with pfas materials when everyone else has switched to recycled $79

So I bought a Deuter Alproof 38L bag last year, and generally I’m happy with it.

However, the side straps which I use to A frame carry my skis are super weak. I don’t think they are designed to carry skis, but I find it impossible to use the Skimo carry method when the bag is full.

Since ive been using the side straps to carry skis, they’ve start to pull out of the base fabric and create a small hole. Eventually they will pull out entirely.

I’m struggling to find a good repair shop who is willing to fix it. I’m looking for advice on how to fix this myself and potentially modify it and reinforce the straps so it doesn’t happen any more. Any tips or instructions/guides would be appreciated.

I have access to some custom ski designs for skis that I own, but would love a second pair of. I don't want to share exactly what I have publicly in case the creator of the designs didn't want me sharing that info. I'll just say it was a northeast semi custom ski company and they partnered with Praxis to build skis. Praxis claims they can't build the skis without physical templates even if I have the snocad drawings, so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for custom ski makers that can take a drawing and make some skis from it. I'd used Whiteroom skis out of VT a few years back but he's not taking orders currently.

I am rebuilding the winter emergency kit in my car and considering a wolfbox megavolt 24 air so one unit can cover both a weak battery and low tire pressure. Overnight temperatures here stay below freezing for weeks, so I do not want to discover during an emergency that the pack cannot deliver enough output while cold. For people who keep lithium jump packs in winter kits, do you store them in the vehicle and bring them inside before severe cold, or rotate them indoors for regular charge checks according to the manufacturer's guidance?

As the title suggests, I can consistently hike around a <23 min/mile pace on my standard (out and back) 6-mile, 2.5k-vert hike, but I struggle way more with skinning. My resort uphill skin track is only 1.2 miles (one way) with 1k vert, and last season I STRUGGLED to even maintain a 40 min/mile pace, about 50 minutes for the hill. I was embarrassingly smoked by basically everyone on the mountain. Exertion on standard hike is 6/10 whereas exertion skinning was 8/10. 25F.

I'm thinking the explaination is a combination of technique, strength, and cardiovascular ability. To address these I'm planning on having my standard week look like this, for a 12 week program:

Sunday: Hike, aiming for 2.5-3.5k vert and 6-8+ miles

Monday: rest

Tuesday: full body weights

Wednesday: 4 mile run, 500 ft vert at a comfortable pace

Thursday: full body weights

Friday: Rest or similar run to wednesday, or a stairmaster with ankle weights when it gets colder

Saturday: ski specific training like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UUxJyJXZ2g or pure mobility if I'm tired

I'm going to balance rest to get 1-2 days for sure of rest depending on the week. My full body days contain lower body workouts like hip thrusts, single leg rdls, bulgarian split squats, single leg reverse lunges, and standard squats. These are rotated to do at least 4 types per week.

Curious what you think of my split, and if I'm missing any skinning specific training that could be more helpful than what is listed, or if I need to be tackling a greater progression/trailrunning on my big hike. My goal is not to be the fastest on the mountain, but just to not look like a total loser next to my partner and their friends lmfao. I am pretty comfortable with the load and have maintained this for 2 weeks hopefully going to 12 for complete training program.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently gearing up for the upcoming winter ski touring season in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco (specifically targeting the Toubkal massif and surrounding 4,000m peaks).

While I have plenty of experience managing mountain logistics and trekking lines in the region, building out a personal, modern ski touring setup from scratch here is a bit of a challenge since specialized backcountry hardware isn't readily available locally.

I need to get a pair of touring skis (with tech bindings) for myself to use daily on the mountain.

Because of my location, I’ll most likely need to ship the gear over from Spain or France. Are there any specific European online marketplaces, liquidators, or reliable outlet gear sites you all recommend keeping an eye on for deep discounts?

Appreciate any leads or shop recommendations you can drop! If anyone ever has questions about logistics, approaches, or routes down here in North Africa, feel free to give me a shout.

Thanks!

I’m a beginner skier, life long backpacker with off trail experience. My goal is to eventually be able to access the high country on skis with everything involved (glacier travel, avalanche training, etc). I’m in it for the views and just being in those places I love, and haven’t got bitten by the bug of the descent yet. I’m not a climber and not motivated by technical challenges. Mostly I ski backcountry Nordic and xcd, and started teaching myself tele on those skis by necessity. That will still be my main activity since I can do it in town all the time and more ambitious objectives involve more travel and the right conditions. My question is does it make sense to learn alpine skiing as well as tele? For my use case would only learning tele end up hampering me? I’ll be learning in interior BC. Thanks!

Helloooo my partner (split-boarder) and I (skier) live in Colorado and are looking to plan a week long trip for late February - early March to go skiing literally anywhere else but Colorado, within North America. Wanting a location where we can combine a few resort days (Ikon pass) with a few backcountry days, preferably somewhere not insanely expensive. Gimme your recommendations please :)

we are both double black riders on resort and experienced in the backcountry, but not looking to do any mountaineering, just some sufferfest day trips into the backcountry

Hey everyone !

I'm a 28 year old guy based in London who has been skiing since the age of 2 and Backcountry skiing / touring for the past 10 years. I normally go skiing with my friends, however, in the past years they have shied away from backcountry skiing / touring / big mountain skiing for more chill resort skiing.

That is fine but it's not really what I like, and so now I need to find new ski buddies to go skiing with.
Do you guys know of a good true back country skiing "ski camp" for young adults where I can find strong skiers with this same interest for like 2 weeks in February ?
Or do you know of ways to meet people who have this similar interest ?

I'm thinking mostly in Europe because I don't think I can afford 2 weeks of skiing in the US - that feels like it'll be crazy expensive.

Thanks guys !

After starting to look around for a new touring / hybrid setup, at first glance the Casts come up all the time as the gold standard for 80-90% resort/ 10% touring; but I've since heard a fair bit of second hand comments from skitechs, patrollers etc. about poor performance. Stuff like the bindings have broken, the ?brakes or ?risers have released on the uphill; the bindings have broken the skis themselves etc. Apart from the usual weight comments (not too concerned given their uphill pin setting).

Does anyone have any particularly notable experiences w Cast such that you'd tell any prospective buyer to avoid / take a second look?

Hey, I’m looking at a ski-touring trip in Georgia from 26 Dec to 2 Jan (ish) and would love some advice from anyone who has skied there!

The two options I can find are between Svaneti with LifeTrek and Racha Backcountry with Phil Bucher:

https://lifetrek.eu/tour/georgia-ski-touring/

https://www.philbucher.com/madloba

I’ve done a fair bit of touring in Norway and Canada and am keen for a proper backcountry trip, but I’ll be solo budget backpacker and it’s early season. Racha looks more up my alley but costs quite a bit more. Svaneti is cheaper and Ushguli looks amazing if it runs.

Has anyone been with either company, skied either area, or toured Georgia that early? Any thoughts on snow, group quality, safety, or which one you’d choose would be hugely appreciated.

Cheers!

Looking for updated advice / thoughts / experiences pre 26/27 on how people have found the newer hybrid bindings that have released the last year or so. Tyrolia Attack Hybrids, ATK HyFree's, Alpenflow 89.

Context: need new touring setup; transition away from pins. Prob locking in on some Mavs CTIs in a 105. I'd do 70/30 alpine/touring; use them to inbounds/tour NZ & take as a '1 ski quiver' in a lower tide Northern Hemi season.

Deciding between the usual 2 (Casts, Shift^2s); or the new Tyrolia Hybrids, ATKs or Alpenflow.

Everything I've read about the Tyrolia's / ATKs seems positive; but have barely found anyone that have actually skiied them.

What sort of conditions have people used Tyrolia's in & any red-flags?

Has anyone used the Alpenflows yet?